Falling into Shadows
by VesperLogan12
Summary: When Angelique died in 1972, she was transported back to the 1800s. After giving birth to a daughter, she reluctantly decides to return to the 20th century to give her daughter a better life. But what happens when she runs into some familiar faces? Will they ever guess her secret?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is only my second fanfic and I still get nervous about posting stuff. I would be grateful for any feedback, good or bad (as long as the bad is constructive) :) **

Angelique Bouchard sat in a chair by the window of her drawing room, a little baby sleeping peacefully in her arms. She looked down at her daughter's small round face and smiled to herself. Five week old Clarisse looked just like her parents, already having thick dark hair and eyes that were a clear shade of grey. It was shame her father couldn't see her. Well, not yet anyway. She had already decided that in a few weeks she would leave the 18th century and head back to the 1900s. She was fed up with the lack of technology in this era. There wasn't even a light bulb. That wouldn't come for at least another century yet. She couldn't let her little Clarisse be brought up in this era. Yes, being the daughter of a vampire and a witch made her immortal, but she would still grow up with no education and only being able to sew and do 'womanly things'. Angelique couldn't allow that. Clarisse deserved the best, and with the portraits Angelique had commissioned of herself, she could travel to any one of the times when they had been painted. The paintings hung in her office in Collinsport, 1972. From there, she could go anywhere she wished.

All Angelique had to do to get there was to use the portrait hanging opposite her on the wall. She remembered posing for it; standing there in her gorgeous black gown with her bare shoulders freezing in the winter's chill. She had loved that gown, but it had not been the wisest choice to wear it during the winter months.

Clarisse stirred in her arms and, looking down she saw that those clear grey eyes were watching her with fascination. She nearly chuckled. The expression on her face was so much like her father's.

"Hello, little one," she whispered, reaching out a finger to stroke her soft, little cheek, but before she could do that, a small hand fisted round it. Angelique smiled. Gently, she attempted to pull her finger away, but the little girl only gripped it tighter. She let it be until Clarisse started to pull the finger towards her mouth.

"Oh no you don't, missy," Angelique scolded lightly and succeeded in pulling her finger away from the Clarisse's hand before letting out a little laugh and leaning down to gently place a kiss on her daughter's forehead. It seemed that she was turning out to be a stubborn little thing, just like her mother.

She hadn't realised how rewarding being a mother was. Moments like this made her glad that she hadn't properly died that night in 1972 and that she had stuck with her pregnancy. When she had first found out, she had panicked at the thought of the responsibility of having a child and loving it and had been sorely tempted to find some way of getting rid of the thing in her stomach. She wouldn't dare think about doing it now. It seemed like Clarisse was all she had left. Her lover had thought she had no heart and everybody else in 1972 would have hated her for being a witch and causing havoc at the Collin's mansion, had she lived. Yet she was still going to go back. For Clarisse. She would keep her dark hair this time and give herself a different name. She had decided that Naomi Babineaux had a nice ring to it and Babineaux went well with Clarisse.

"What would you like to eat, miss?"

Angelique started at the voice and turned her head to where a serving girl stood in the doorway.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking, Lucie?"

"Sorry, miss." The young girl hung her head.

"But I will go and speak to Mrs Wallis myself. Could you just watch Clarisse for a few minutes please?"

"Yes, of course, miss!" the girl beamed.

Angelique smiled and handed her daughter over to Lucie. She knew the household had already taken to Clarisse.

Then she turned and walked out of the room. Just as she shut the door, she witnessed Lucie cooing over her daughter and Clarisse was smiling and reaching up her arms to hold on to the older girl. Quietly, she left them to it.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks so much to lexette27 for following, EleKat for the review, following and favouriting and the person who wrote my other review! Also thanks to anybody that reads this. It all means so much to me! :D  
I probably won't update everyday as I am still at school and get a lot of homework, but I will do my best to update when I can! Please keep reading and reviewing! :)**

Angelique stood in front of her portrait, balancing Clarisse on one hip and holding a bag of expensive jewellery in her other hand. It was time to leave the 18th century behind and head to the 20th as Naomi and Clarisse Babineaux, recently moved to America from France.

Last week, she had dismissed all her servants, saying she was moving far away, so she could start preparing to travel back to the 1900s. She had made Clarisse a little red sundress out of a curtain and knitted her a little cardigan for the fashion of the seventies. Sometimes, it came in useful to have been alive for over two hundred years. For herself, Angelique knew that she could change into something suitable when she arrived. She had always kept a small wardrobe of clothes in the corner of her office, just in case of times like this. It did her well to be prepared.

She smiled down at the three month old baby on her hip and got a toothy grin in return. Clarisse definitely looked cute in her new clothes

"Ready to go, sweetheart?" she asked. Clarisse only gurgled in response, still smiling happily up at her mother.

Smothering a laugh, Angelique stared fixatedly at the portrait of herself and started muttering something under her breath. As soon as she stopped, the wind started to pick up, whipping her long, dark hair around her face. The walls of the drawing room she knew so well were fading away into nothingness and the wind was blowing stronger and stronger, swirling around and around them.

Over the whistling of the wind, Angelique heard Clarisse start to cry, clearly scared about what was happening, and hugged her baby closer, knowing it would soon be over and she could comfort her. She hated it when Clarisse cried.

Eventually the wind slowed and dark shapes that resembled furniture began to appear. Angelique shut her eyes and only opened them again when the wind had completely stopped and all she could hear was Clarisse's crying.

Not even looking at her surroundings, Angelique put the bag down on the desk and turned all her attention to her daughter, who was still crying unhappily.

"Oh, Clarisse, ssh, it's alright. You're safe. I'm here. Shh," she soothed, hugging the little girl close to her chest and stroking the back of her head. This seemed to have the desired effect as Clarisse instantly seemed to start calming down.

Once Clarisse had stopped crying, Angelique brought her away from her chest and wiped the last tear from her daughter's cheek, making eye contact with her. Clarisse seemed to know that her mother was going to tell her something important because she looked at Angelique expectantly.

"Our lives are going to change now, Clarisse. I'll get us a house and you can grow up and go to school and learn all the things you need to have a lovely job and get a man who loves you. You won't end up like me. I'll make sure of that. I promise you."

Clarisse looked sincere for a moment, as if she was figuring out what her mother was saying to her before smiling and reaching out her chubby arms for a hug. Angelique chuckled and brought Clarisse back to her chest.

"I love you too, sweetheart. I love you too," she whispered into Clarisse's ear before pulling her away and setting her down on one of the chairs. "I just have to get changed. I won't be long," she added when Clarisse's face screwed up as if she was going to cry again.

Going to the wardrobe, Angelique picked out a white shirt and black pencil skirt and then found a long black pair of boots with a slight heel. Slipping them on, she discarded her 18th century gown at the back of the wardrobe. She had been lucky that no one had decided to remove the portraits yet or, it seemed, even try and get into the office.

'Perhaps they were all too scared of me being a witch and the room being cursed or something stupid,' Angelique thought to herself. It made her smile. The people of Collinsport _would_ be like that. They were already suspicious people before finding out that they had a witch and a vampire running the town. Who knows what they were like now?

Chuckling, Angelique turned back to Clarisse and picked her up before taking her bag off the table. Looking once more around her office, she walked out of the door, ready to face her new life in 1972…


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks to EleKat and elijohnson for the reviews! And thanks to RitatheBeetle and TheHoneyBadgerNight for following/favouriting! Also thanks to hinatauchiha82, EleKat, TorontoBatFan, francine bouchard and StarReader2009 for favouriting, reviewing, following etc. It means a lot!  
****  
Sorry guys, but I decided to change it a bit so I've had to delete chapter 4 and the end of this chapter has changed. I'm on school hols for two weeks now, so hopefully I'll have more time to write, but I can't promise anything! Sorry! Please let me know what you think! :)**

Stepping into the elevator, Angelique watched thoughtfully as the doors slid shut with a ping, and it began to descend. If she wanted to keep the portraits then she was going to find a way to buy that office, she realised. Not that it would be difficult if everyone thought it was cursed. She would just have to get a job and persuade them to sell it to her cheap.

However, even that would have to wait. First she needed a house of some sort for them to live and get settled in. What job should she go for? She could take up her old fishery, Angel Bay. She'd have to change the name. No one would buy fish from a place that used to be run by a witch. Not that she was any different. She'd have to start of small again, like last time, and that would be tedious. Yet, before she could even start that, she would have to talk to some of the fishermen and persuade them to sell their fish to her. Even then, she'd need money, and more than she had. There had to be some other job she could do until then…

Walking out into the street seemed like a trip down memory lane for Angelique. The sun shone down on the tarmac roads and heat rolled off the pavements in waves. Yet, the thing that looked most familiar was the big, neon yellow M sticking out above the buildings. Looking down at Clarisse, she saw her daughter was staring at in confusion. Angelique chuckled quietly. Her daughter had never seen anything like this before. 1973 was an assault to the eyes with all the bright colours and flashing neon signs blinking everywhere, even in the daytime.

"Welcome to 1973, Clarisse," she whispered. When Clarisse turned her confused look to her mother, Angelique felt she was going to have to explain before it all got too much for the little girl. "When I told you our lives were going to be different now, this is what I meant. Don't worry, you'll get used to it. You'll grow up here, and go to school. You wouldn't be able to do that if we had stayed where we were. You'll understand when you get older. This is for the best."

Clarisse's face split into a big smile and Angelique couldn't help but be caught up in it, even though she wasn't sure her daughter had understood a word she had just said.

* * *

After going to the bank and setting up an account for Naomi Babineaux, Angelique headed for the pawnbrokers, hoping to sell her jewellery for a reasonable price.

Stepping into the shop, she felt as though she just wanted to turn around and walk back out again. The shop was covered in a layer of dust and grime and the man behind the desk looked old and doddery, but Angelique knew she had to sell her jewellery to start her new life and so went and stood behind the lady talking to the owner.

While she was waiting she studied the lady in front of her. There was something familiar about the dark blonde curls and the style of dark gown that she couldn't put her finger on. She only realised what it was when she came face to face with none other than Elizabeth Stoddard.

Angelique froze, praying the woman wouldn't recognise her.

"Hello, sorry to keep you waiting, although, who are you? I don't think I've seen you around before," Elizabeth said, making Angelique sigh a little with relief.

"I've just moved here from France. My name is Naomi Babineaux and this is Clarisse," Angelique replied, putting on a slight French accent.

"Nice to meet you, Naomi, and you too, Clarisse. I'm Elizabeth Stoddard. I run Collins Canning Company. " She smiled at Clarisse and the young girl knew to smile back, even though she had felt her mother's alarm at the woman.

"Yes, I've heard of it."

"Well, I guess it is the main company around here, especially since Angel Bay was closed down."

"Mm," Angelique nodded, unsure how to put the next bit. She didn't have much of the day left. "I'm sorry, but I need to go, I have a lot to do yet. So, if you'll please excuse me…"

"Oh yes, of course. I'll see you around then, Naomi?"

"Yes, thank you, bye." Angelique gave Elizabeth a smile and watched her walk away before turning back to the pawnbroker.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: If you didn't already realise, I've changed where the story is heading slightly and the end of Chapter 3 has changed and I took down the old Chapter 4 and have now replaced it with this. Sorry if there's any confusion! And, to anyone who read the old chapter 4, is this better? Please let me know!  
Also, I just want to say thank you to TorontoBatFan for the new idea! **

After a couple of days of sleeping in her old office, Angelique realised that it was time she looked for a job. She had got a reasonable price for her old jewellery, but it wasn't going to last forever and she needed to buy somewhere for her and Clarisse to live.

However, two weeks later, she had been round most of the businesses in the town and nobody would take her. It was always, sorry, we don't have any vacancies, even if they clearly needed more help, or you're not quite right for this job. Yet, Angelique knew it was because she was new. Elizabeth had been about the only one to say hello to her in the whole town. Reluctantly, Angelique had become friends with her after bumping into Elizabeth several times over the last two weeks, the last meeting resulting in Elizabeth dragging Angelique and Clarisse into a coffee shop to chat.

* * *

Stepping into the only shop she had yet to try for a job, Angelique headed towards the counter where a middle-aged woman stood sorting something out on the till.

"Excuse me." The woman looked up a little startled at the sound of Angelique's voice. "You have a sign outside saying you are looking for an assistant to help on the tills. I'm interested in taking the position."

"Who are you? I don't think I've seen your face around here before, have I?"

"I'm new around here. I moved from France a few weeks ago. My name is Naomi Babineaux."

"Umm… well, the place was filled just now. I'm sorry," the woman stuttered. Angelique nearly growled.

"Do you know if any other places anywhere else that have a vacancy?"

"You could try the café down the road, they are often looking for waitresses, or I was talking to the owner of the Shell garage and they were looking for someone."

"I've tried both of those, but thank you for the help." Angelique smiled wistfully at the woman and shifted Clarisse, who was perched on her hip, before turning away.

"Naomi?"

Angelique looked up and found Elizabeth standing in front of her.

"I thought it was Clarisse's face I saw through the window giving me a smile," she said, reaching forward and placing a friendly kiss on Angelique's cheek and cooing at Clarisse, who started gurgling happily at the older woman.

"What's this about you still finding a job?" Elizabeth asked suddenly as she looked away from Clarisse.

"Yes, well, I've tried everywhere, but it seems Collinsport are wary of their newcomers," Angelique admitted.

"Nowhere will take you?"

"It seems not," Angelique smiled sadly at Elizabeth. "I may have to move away. The money I got for my jewellery isn't going to last us much longer and if I can't find a job here, then we'll have to go someplace else."

"You can't go so soon! Look, we're in need of a new housekeeper. Mrs Johnson is getting on a bit and you have no job, so why don't you come and work for me?"

"I couldn't, I mean…" Angelique tried to say before she was interrupted. She couldn't be so close to Barnabas!

"Of course you can. You need the work. We need a new housekeeper. Come with me now and we'll sort it out. There are only six of us living there so I'm sure we can find you a spare room."

"I can't–"

"Come on, Naomi. I don't want to lose a friend just because they wouldn't take the only job they were offered because it was their friend. Anyway, my cousin, Barnabas, and his girlfriend, Victoria, live in their own annex and only Mrs Johnson is allowed to go in there to clean, if you were worried about the work load."

Angelique jolted at the mention of Barnabas, earning her a confused look from Elizabeth.

"Are you alright?" asked Elizabeth.

"Yes, I'm fine, but, I'm sorry, it's not the work load, I just can't take the job–" Angelique tried again, but was once more interrupted.

"You just admitted you can't look after your daughter with no money. I insist you come with me. You don't have to stay if you don't want. Just come and have a drink. I'm sure the rest of my family would love to meet you. There's only me, Mrs Johnson, Barnabas and Victoria, who we don't see very often, our gardener, Willie and David, who you've already met. They will be happy to have a new housekeeper. As I said, Mrs Johnson is a bit… doddery and sometimes forgets things."

Angelique noted that she didn't mention Carolyn. Where had she gone? She would be sixteen by now. Perhaps she had moved away? At least she wouldn't have the werewolf onto her with its scent if she had, Angelique thought.

"I'm still not sure–"

"Just try it. If you don't like it, or it's too much then you can go if you want, but please just try it. You never know, it may suit you down to the ground."

Angelique sighed and Elizabeth seemed to take that as Angelique nearly being persuaded.

"Come on. I'll introduce you to the family and show you where you'll sleep. Do it for me and Clarisse."

"Fine," Angelique finally gave in and let Elizabeth lead her to the kingfisher blue Plymouth Duster parked down the road.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry to all those who have already read this. It's the old chapter 4 with slight changes. Thanks to EleKat for the review :)  
Please tell me what you think! I should have the next chapter up in a couple of days :) **

As Elizabeth drove up the driveway, Angelique couldn't help but gasp at the newly built Collinwood Manor. It was much like the old one, yet… it was more. There were no weeds in the drive, the fountain was spewing water prettily into the dish below and the grass was bright green and newly cut. The house stood in the middle. It was still as dark, but nowhere near as sad and gloomy as it used to be. The windows were glinting in the sunlight, the rooftops shined and the stone walls were new and polished. Angelique couldn't help but marvel at what they had done to it. It was magnificent.

"You like it?" Elizabeth asked, slowing down as they neared the fountain.

"It's incredible," Angelique replied, still taking in what had been done since she was there last.

They had just redone it when she had burned it down. Everybody had been amazed at it then, but now, now it was even more impressive than before.

"Good. I'm glad you like it. We're really pleased at how it's turned out. Plus, we've managed to save a few pieces of furniture and paintings from the fire. They had to be redone and polished, but we're getting there."

Stopping the car, Elizabeth opened the door and got out, followed by Angelique.

"Well, are you ready to meet the family, Naomi?"

'No' was all that came into Angelique's mind, as her doubts returned, but she nodded and put on a smile. What was she going to do if any of them recognised her?

Following Elizabeth through the double doors, Angelique was surprised to find that they hadn't done a lot to change the interior. They had replaced the chandelier she had died on with one slightly less detailed, but it was still as grand as the other had been. The furniture was not quite as authentic, although they had managed to rescue the sofas and tables and they had also replaced the portraits with ones of themselves, Barnabas's still in pride place over the fireplace.

However, the one thing that they had got rid of was the carvings in the walls. The mermaids, seahorses, even the snakes around the banisters were not there anymore. Perhaps they were worried they would come alive again. Angelique managed to suppress the laughter that bubbled up in her. That had been a good idea, but she had no urge to do it again in the near future.

"Well, Naomi, I'll go fetch Mrs Johnson to sort out a room for you. She'll come down when she's done and show you where you'll be sleeping and, later, once you've settled in, I'll come and talk to you about your duties, but first I need to talk to Barnabas. He likes to know about any visitors. He always seems a little nervous and touchy after that woman died. Heaven knows why. Angelique is dead, he doesn't need to worry about her anymore. It's like he thinks she's going to come back alive or something… although, you do remind me of her… except your eyes are different. Hers were always full of hate I suppose, yours are softer. Also, she was a blonde. Very different from your colour." Elizabeth smiled at the younger woman.

"Perhaps we are distantly related?" Angelique tried hastily. "Although I have never heard of an Angelique in our family." She looked down at Clarisse, who had fallen asleep in the short journey in the car after Angelique had had to comfort her about the noise. She had never seen a car before and it had frightened her.

"Perhaps. I will go fetch Mrs Johnson now. If you want to make yourself comfortable on the sofa in front of the fireplace, she'll only be a moment," she smiled, gesturing to where Barnabas's portrait hung on the wall.

"Yes, of course, thank you, Elizabeth." Angelique smiled back at Elizabeth and moved to sit in front of the fire. She heard the woman's footsteps climb up the stairs and fade away as she strode down one of the corridors.

Looking back down at Clarisse, she bent down and grazed her lips over her sleeping daughter's forehead.

"I think we'll avoid your father for the moment, Clarisse," she murmured quietly.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks to musicluver246 for reviewing, favouriting and following, ceb521 for following and dionne dance for reviewing. It all means a lot. I never expected anyone to enjoy my wrtiting really so thanks!  
I hope I've got the character of Mrs Johnson okay in this chapter, I found her hard to write. Reviews would be good!**

Quarter of an hour later, Angelique heard footsteps shuffling down the stairs and stood up, leaving Clarisse lying in the corner of the sofa. Turning round, she saw a small old lady hobbling down the stairs holding a duster.

Without saying a word she walked up to Angelique and rubbed the duster over her face, taking Angelique completely by surprise and only stopped when Angelique started coughing and spluttering.

"Mrs Johnson?" she managed to ask over her coughing fit. The old lady didn't answer and moved over to the sofa. She could see what Elizabeth meant when she said Mrs Johnson was a bit doddery, Angelique thought and hurried over before the old lady could find Clarisse.

"Mrs Johnson!" she called, and tapped her on the shoulder.

The old lady looked up at her.

"I'm Naomi. Elizabeth said you were supposed to be showing me to a room."

Again, without a word, Mrs Johnson bowed her head and moved away from the sofa. Angelique quickly grabbed Clarisse and followed, although warily keeping a fair distance behind in case Mrs Johnson decided to do something unexpected again.

After going up two flights of stairs, Angelique followed Mrs Johnson through a vast amount passages until they passed an enormous portrait of Joshua Collins that Angelique could have sworn they'd passed at least twice. At that point, she realised that they must have gone round the house several times.

She was just about to say something when Mrs Johnson opened a door into a large room. She let Angelique walk in before walking away, stopping to dust the sparkly clean vase on the table just outside Angelique's room. Angelique bit her lip to stop herself from laughing.

"So, Clarisse, what do you think?" she asked as soon as Mrs Johnson's shuffling footsteps had died away. "Do you think you'll be happy here?"

The little girl only smiled and gurgled happily, which Angelique took as a yes.

"We'll buy you a crib and put it in the corner over there and–" Angelique was cut off as the door opened.

"It's only me, Naomi," Elizabeth said, stepping through the doorway. Angelique smiled at her. "Are you alright in this room?"

"I haven't had a lot of time to look round, but I think it'll be perfect, thank you so much."

"I was only helping a friend."

"Well, still I must thank you for your generosity. It was very kind, even for a friend."

"You're very welcome. Now, about your duties. You'll clean and polish the things that Mrs Johnson misses. She does, for some reason, seem to favour cleaning certain objects, and don't be surprised if she doesn't acknowledge you, or thinks you need cleaning."

"I've already experienced  
all that, don't worry. She seems to favour the vase on the table outside." Angelique couldn't help but smile at Elizabeth, whose mouth also widened into a grin.

"You'll also need to change our bedding once a week. However, don't worry about Barnabas and Victoria's annex. As I said earlier, Mrs Johnson deals with that. So that just leaves you with mine, David's, Willie's and your own. You will also need to do the laundry at least once a week and if anything needs to be taken to the dry cleaners, you will take it and collect it again."

"Anything else?"

"No, I don't think so. We have a cook that comes in at mealtimes, but she doesn't stay full time. She may ask you to get something from the town, but it's highly unlikely, she prefers to do that herself so she knows what she's buying."

"Okay."

"You will receive $6 per hour and you will get Sunday off and also Wednesday afternoon. Is that okay? Oh, and if you would like, I'll drop you off in town and you can pick up your belongings from wherever you were staying."

"Yes, that would be perfect, thank you."

"Where were you staying?"

"Umm… in a hotel," Angelique lied.

"Oh, which one?"

Damn her curiosity, Angelique thought. "I can't remember what it's called."

"Oh, well, I'll see you at dinner, then. It starts at six." Elizabeth glanced at the clock. 4:30pm. "You have an hour and a half to get settled. Don't bother about changing. It will only be me and David."

"Umm, where is the dining room exactly?" Angelique asked.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot you don't know your way around yet. I'll come up here at quarter to and show you the way, okay?"

"Yes, thank you," Angelique smiled.

"Well then, I'll just leave you to get settled then. See you later."

"Alright. And thank you so much, Elizabeth. It's very kind of you."

"You're very welcome, Naomi." She flashed Angelique and Clarisse a smile. "Call me if you need anything." With that, she walked out, carefully shutting the door behind her.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks to EleKat for the review.  
Sorry if there are any mistakes in this chapter, I haven't had time to check it. (Been to see Skyfall (again) and got Downton later) Please review!**

An hour and a quarter later, Angelique was as settled as she thought she could be for the moment and sat down on the bed, looking round at her new living space. The bed itself was a four poster one and was downed with red sheets and blankets with matching curtains. The wood was dark and carved with intricate knot work all the way up the posts, much like it would have been in the 18th century.

The room was wallpapered in red and gold and there was a large wardrobe in the corner by the window, covered in cobwebs. Against the wall, opposite the end of the bed, there was a stool and dressing table with a gilded mirror set on its surface, and, finally, in another corner of the room, stood a dark chest of drawers with a bronze coloured vase placed on top.

It wasn't exactly what Angelique had imagined in her plan, but it was better than sleeping on the couch in her old office with Clarisse cuddled next to her. At least she didn't have to worry about rolling over and squashing her daughter any more.

A knock on the door pulled Angelique out of her thoughts and she called for them to come in.

"Naomi? Are you ready for dinner?" Elizabeth asked, walking through the door.

"Yes, thank you for coming and fetching me. I'm just coming."

Angelique picked up Clarisse and walked out of the room behind Elizabeth, reminding herself to find some way of remembering the way so she wouldn't have to be fetched again.

* * *

Angelique was sat opposite 10 year old David, who continued to stare at her and Clarisse, but not say a word.

"David, please stop staring at Naomi and Clarisse, it's not very polite," Elizabeth sighed. "I'm sorry, Naomi. David lost his mother to the sea and it's probably reminding him of her. Recently his father walked out as well."

"Oh, I'm sorry David." She could remember quite clearly that David's mother, Lara, the one she had killed in her revenge, had been the person to kill her. Well, her ghost had. Angelique shivered at the thought of her ear-splitting screech that had thrown her backwards into the chandelier. Although, if she had lived, then she certainly wouldn't have her daughter and be reasonably happy. She had lost control that night and she regretted it. Yes, she still loved Barnabas and hearing that he was with Victoria was especially painful, but she would rather be free and have her daughter with her, than be dead or locked in some cell where she would never have seen daylight again without Clarisse.

"Where's Clarisse's father?" David asked her. Angelique stiffened.

"David, you can't ask that sort of thing. Apologise to Naomi," Elizabeth scolded.

"No, it's alright. Clarisse's father died a few months ago. That's partly the reason we moved from France. Too many memories," Angelique lied, smiling sadly.

"Oh, Naomi, I didn't know. I'm sorry," Elizabeth said, sounding surprised. She probably thought he'd left me or something, Angelique thought to herself.

"It's fine, don't worry."

Just then, a woman walked in carrying a dish of beef. She set it down in the middle of the table and then turned to Elizabeth.

"I'll just go fetch the vegetables ma'am," she said.

"Thank you, Mrs Fairburn," Elizabeth told her. "It looks lovely."

The woman nodded and walked out, only to be back after a few minutes with the rest of the meal.

"Thank you," Angelique told her, when she came round to place a dish of carrots and broccoli.

"And who are you?" Mrs Fairburn asked, making Angelique jump with her rudeness.

"That's Naomi, Mrs Fairburn, our new housekeeper, and she doesn't deserve your rudeness for thanking you," Elizabeth scolded.

"I apologise, Naomi," Mrs Fairburn said stiffly and walked away.

"I am ever so sorry, Nomi. She always seems grumpy, it's her nature. But she's an excellent cook," Elizabeth apologised.

"It's fine. It doesn't matter," Angelique said for about the hundredth time that meal, helping herself to some of the potatoes in the middle of the table.

Just as she tucked in, a loud wail came from Clarisse, who was sat on a cushion in the chair next to her. Sighing, Angelique put down her knife and fork and turned to her daughter.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong with her, I've only just fed her and cleaned her up. If you'd just excuse me."

"Naomi, she's eyeing your food. Have you tried giving her proper food yet?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, I haven't. Not yet."

"Try mashing up one of the potatoes and giving it to her. See if she likes it. It might just be she wants what you've got."

"Okay. Thank you." Angelique tried mushing up one of the potatoes on her plate and shovelled up a little bit on a spoon. "Is this what you want, Clarisse?" she asked, moving the spoon towards the little girl's mouth. She opened up eagerly and Angelique smiled as she put the spoon in her mouth and Clarisse ate the potato.

"It appears that was what she wanted," Elizabeth chuckled and Angelique joined in.

"Yes, thank you very much," she said, as Clarisse finished the rest of the potato. "Can I finish my own dinner now?" she asked her. The little girl just smiled, making Elizabeth burst into laughter again and even David joined in this time.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thanks to dionne dance, EleKat and julianne for your reviews, they really motivate me, so keep reviewing please! Sorry for such a short chapter, but I have an idea of what's going to happen in the next chapter and it should be longer! Sorry! :)**

The next day, Angelique got down to her chores, leaving Clarisse under the watchful eye of Elizabeth whilst she worked. However, she found herself missing the little girl. She had never spent more than a few minutes away from her side and now, Angelique looked up at the clock, she hadn't seen her daughter in four hours.

Sighing, Angelique went back to her cleaning. She was working on getting the dust off the things Mrs Johnson clearly seemed to avoid for some reason, and there were a lot of them. Elizabeth had told her there were over 150 rooms, over 200 if you counted Barnabas and Victoria's annex, and Angelique had only done twenty of the smaller rooms. By the time she had gone round them all, the first ones would need doing again.

* * *

By evening, Angelique had done about fifty of the rooms before she gave up for the day. She all but ran down to the living room to find Clarisse.

"She's been crying on and off for you all day," Elizabeth told her when she got down there. "There was nothing I could do to calm her."

"Oh, I'm ever so sorry," Angelique found herself apologising, much to her surprise. She rarely apologised for anything so genuinely. She moved forward and plucked Clarisse from Elizabeth's arms. "Hey, little one, what are you crying about? Mama's here now. Shh."

The little girl stopped wailing and looked up before realising who was holding her.

"Mama."

Angelique froze, so did Elizabeth.

"Did she just..?" Angelique asked, looking at Elizabeth.

"I think so, I don't know. Five and a half months is a bit soon for her to be saying her first word, but it definitely sounded like mama to me." Angelique looked back at the baby in her arms.

"Did you just say mama, sweetheart? Can you say it again for me?"

However, Clarisse just smiled at her mother and startled gurgling.

"Maybe not," Angelique sighed, disappointed.

"I'm sure it won't be long, Naomi. That sounded very much like mama, even if she didn't quite know what she was saying," Elizabeth comforted. She knew how frustrating it was when your child was on the verge of speaking, but wasn't quite there. She had had it with Carolyn.

"I guess… thank you for looking after her, Elizabeth, especially as it sounds like she was a bit of a handful."

"It's fine, Naomi, really. Go and rest, dinner will be at six, like yesterday. In fact, unless I tell you otherwise, it will always be at six, just so you know."

"Okay, thank you." With that, Angelique turned and left the room.

On her way back up to her room, she looked down at Clarisse, who was all smiles now her mother was back.

"That was naughty, Clarisse," Angelique scolded, despite the fact she knew her daughter wouldn't understand a word she said. "I think you really wore Aunt Elizabeth down with your crying. She looked exhausted."

To her surprise, it seemed Clarisse knew that she was being told off by Angelique, for her face crumpled before screwing up as though she was going to start crying again. Angelique sighed.

"Shh, I'm never, ever going to leave you, Clarisse. Just because I can't be with you every moment, doesn't mean I don't love you any less, alright?" The little girl stopped and looked at her mother with an innocent expression on her face. Angelique smiled and cradled Clarisse against her chest as she climbed the staircase. No matter what happened, she thought, she would never leave her Clarisse unless it was for the best.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: This chapter is the longest one I've ever written on here to make up for the really short one last time, so enjoy and please tell me what you think! ;)  
Also, thanks to my reviewers, julianne, EleKat and the guest, whoever you are! **

The week passed quickly and soon it was Sunday; Angelique's day off. She had decided that she and Clarisse were going to go down to the town for the day and go shopping. Her clothes weren't very suitable for house cleaning and sooner or later, Angelique was worried that Elizabeth would recognise one of her outfits. They were rather… Angelique style.

She was just getting Clarisse ready to leave when there was a knock on the door. Setting Clarisse down on the bed, Angelique stood up.

"Come in!" she called, expecting it to be Elizabeth, but when she turned round, she froze. There, in the doorway, stood Barnabas Collins himself. He looked no different to when she's last seen him, his skin deathly white, his jet black locks curling on his forehead and his extra-long fingers wrapped around his new cane.

"Mr…C-Collins!" Angelique stuttered. Now what was she going to do?

"Naomi, it's nice to meet you. I hear you're the new housekeeper?" he said, walking over and extending a hand. Reluctantly, she shook it, but fear took over when he froze. She looked up. A mistake.

"Angelique? It cannot be. You're dead!" he exclaimed, his grip on her hand tightening.

"Barnabas, please!" Angelique pleaded, panic taking over the rational part of her mind that told her she should have acted confused and asked who Angelique was.

"What, witch? Why are you back? How are you back?" he snarled.

"I… the portraits. I used my portraits. But–" Barnabas didn't let her finish.

"Then I shall kill you and destroy them. You've ruined our lives enough, Angelique!"

"Barnabas, please listen to me–"

"Why should I? You've done enough damage!"

"Please, I've changed, I promise, I don't want–" Once more Barnabas cut her off, his grip so tight, that he was crushing her hand.

"People… monsters, like you _never change._"

"Please! I have and I'm sorry, I did it for Clarisse! I–"

"Clarisse? Who the hell is Clarisse? And why should I care?" Barnabas yelled. "You killed my parents, David's mother and my first true love and nearly killed me and my second. You're a monster… a cold-blooded murderer!"

A loud wail came from the bed as Clarisse was woken up with the loud voices. Angelique tore her hand away from Barnabas' grip and ran to the bed.

"Shh, shh, sweetheart. I'm here. It's okay, shh," Angelique soothed, picking Clarisse up and rocking her, trying to ignore Barnabas and his words. His very true words. She had been a monster, but she thought she'd changed. She regretted what she'd done, everything from killing his parents to sending the werewolf into Carolyn's room when she was a baby, especially now she had her own. She could see how Elizabeth had been so angry with her. If anyone had done the same to Clarisse, she would have hunted them down and made them suffer in the most horrible way possible.

She looked back down at Clarisse, bending down and placing a soft kiss on her button nose and stroking her finger down the cheek that was all blotchy and red, from wailing and crying.

Barnabas stared in shock as Angelique continued to soothe the little girl in her arms. He had never seen Angelique's soft side before, not even when they had been lovers. This couldn't possibly be the same woman, could it? The witch that was so bent on revenge for her broken heart that she plagued his family with a curse, not caring what happened to anyone.

"What the hell are you doing with a baby, Angelique? Where did you get it from? Is it some kind of cover? Elizabeth never told me about a baby!" Barnabas raged.

"No, Barnabas. This is Clarisse Bouchard. My daughter…" She looked up at him and Barnabas saw a glint of fear in her eyes as she spoke the next words almost inaudibly. "Our daughter."

"What? No! Stop lying, you witch!" Barnabas shouted. This couldn't be right. He had a girlfriend. One that he was going to ask to marry. He couldn't already have a child, and a child with the witch that cursed his family. He couldn't!

"Barnabas, I'm not lying. I'm sorry, I really am. Just please don't say anything to anyone. They can't know."

"Too right they can," Barnabas retorted, his eyes flashing angrily. "I will not have you in my house! How on Earth did you trick Elizabeth into letting you here? Some kind of sorcery, I suppose?"

"Barnabas, I didn't want to come here, I didn't want anything to do with this family. Elizabeth invited me to as I couldn't get a job down in the village, I'm too new. No one would take me and I needed a job so I could raise Clarisse."

"If you didn't want anything to do with us, then why did you come here? There are plenty of other places in the world you could have gone!"

"This is the only place I know. I want Clarisse to have a good childhood, with all the technology of this era, seeing as though she's going to live–"

"Are you're seriously going to say to me that she's immortal?" Barnabas interrupted and buried his head in his hands at Angelique's nod. "This just gets worse and worse!"

"With having two immortal parents, she was bound to be immortal. She'll grow up until she's about twenty five, and then stop and carry on living at that age."

"Please don't tell me she's a witch, or a vampire?"

"I don't know about a witch, but she hasn't got a taste for blood, or fangs. I don't know what will happen to her," Angelique admitted. When Barnabas didn't say anything, Angelique started to get worried. "Barnabas, please. Please don't say anything to anybody, especially not Vicky. They'll kill us. All I want is for Clarisse to be happy."

Barnabas sighed, contemplating about it. He certainly hadn't expected this if Angelique had come back and it was difficult. How could he trust someone who had done what she had done? Had she really changed, or was it all an act? But what about his daughter? No one could ever know it was his, especially not Victoria.

"Fine… but, if anything suspicious happens, and I mean anything, I will blame you, and I shall tell on you. Also, as soon as you have earned enough money to set up your own business and buy a house, I want you to move out. I suspect you want to buy Angel Bay back again." He waited as Angelique nodded. "However much I doubt you will be as successful as before, I will agree to give you forty per cent of the fishing boats in Collinsport, if they agree to be with you. But, this is as long as you have nothing to do with us after you move. Do I make myself clear?"

"Thank you, Barnabas. I'm grateful, truly grateful and I'm sorry for everything I caused. Really. You can't even begin to imagine how much I'm starting to regret everything." Angelique whispered, and then looked up at him. "But, I still love you, you know," she added.

**I'm thinking of skipping ten years soon so Clarisse is more grown up. Do you think I should, or should I keep her as a baby for longer? Please tell me what you think! **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you to TorontoBatFan, lexette27, Romeo's Goil, Jynx6, Ruth-Skyfall and especially to dionne dance (who gave me the idea, whether they know it or not ;)) for the reviews and also to Ani-Obi-Skywalker-Kenobi1985 for following.  
Next chapter, I'm going to skip 10 years because I'm finding it hard to write about a baby when I don't have any experience with one!**

Over the next few days, Angelique was very wary of Elizabeth, just in case Barnabas had gone and said something. Elizabeth hasn't said anything or given her any funny looks so far, so it seemed he had kept to his word, but Angelique was still a little worried.

"New dress?" Elizabeth asked one evening at dinner, in an attempt to get Angelique to say something.

"Yes, I bought it the other day in town. I thought I needed something suitable for housework."

"Well, it's a good choice. It suits you."

"Thank you," Angelique murmured and went back to eating.

"What's wrong? We haven't done anything to upset you, have we?" Elizabeth asked after the next awkward silence.

"No, no, not at all. I think I'm just a little tired, that's all, Clarisse has had a few restless nights recently," Angelique lied, saying the first thing that came into her head.

"Oh, alright. I'm sure it will pass," Elizabeth said, and went back to her meal.

The rest of the dinner passed in silence. David said nothing at all and Angelique just pushed the food around her plate.

"I'm sorry, but will you please excuse me," Angelique said, and stood up. She couldn't stand it anymore. Picking up Clarisse, she swiftly left the room, leaving Elizabeth and David to finish their meal in silence.

* * *

"What am I going to do, Clarisse? If I don't stop acting off, then Elizabeth is going to get even more suspicious. I can't blame you forever, but I can't help but wonder if Barnabas actually said anything. After what I did to his family, he might have lied to me," Angelique told Clarisse, shutting the door of their room after climbing up the stairs from the dining room.

"I haven't told anyone, Angelique. You can trust me on that," Barnabas' voice said, as he walked out of the shadows. Angelique jumped out her skin, nearly dropping Clarisse.

"Don't do that, Barnabas! I nearly dropped my daughter," Angelique scolded. "What are you even doing here? This is my room."

"Don't you mean _our _daughter, Angelique? That's why I'm here–"

"You're not taking Clarisse away from me!" Angelique clutched the little girl close to her chest, panicking. He couldn't do that to her. The little girl was her most precious thing in the world. She couldn't lose her!

"I wasn't going to say that," Barnabas said calmly, but Angelique didn't relax completely. "If you'll let me finish, I was going to ask that, in the day, when you're working, I get to look after her. I want to get to know her, and a daughter should be able to know her father, don't you agree?"

"Won't everyone be suspicious that you are looking after a baby? You haven't even supposedly met me, so how can you explain looking after my baby?" She wasn't sure if she liked this idea very much.

"We'll say I met you in the corridor, and you mentioned about Clarisse being a handful for Elizabeth while she's trying to handle business and I offered for me and Vicky to look after her."

"How did you know about that? Anyway, I'm not sure, you don't know much about–"

"Vicky will help, she knows a lot, and if need be, I can find you or Elizabeth." Angelique noted he failed to answer her first question.

"I'm still not sure…"

"I don't think you're in any position to not agree, Angelique, I could accidently slip out about your secret…"

"No, you can't!" Angelique cried.

"Well agree then."

"Fine, but you can't say anything, please, Barnabas."

"Of course, and when you leave here and have your own house, I can say I'm heading into town, or I got attached to her when I was looking after her and come and visit."

"Yes, alright, we'll see if it works…" Angelique trailed off and looked into Barnabas' eyes. There was one thing she wanted to know. "What do you see in Vicky that you don't with me?" she whispered. Barnabas looked shocked.

"Don't push your luck, Angelique," he snapped suddenly. "But, just so you know, she didn't curse my family, or kill my girlfriends. I can trust her."

With that, he walked out, leaving Angelique staring after him sadly.

"Oh well, Clarisse, I've well and truly lost him now. But, I guess it will be good for you to be able to grow up with a father, I didn't expect him to be so… accepting of you. I suppose he is very much a family man though." She looked down at Clarisse, who was squirming happily in her arms. "You're so lucky, not having a care in the world, you know, sweetheart."

She bent her head down to rub noses with Clarisse, smiling when her daughter giggled in delight. She wished she could keep Clarisse like this forever. She was the only person who would listen to her, even if she didn't understand what it actually meant.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Okay, I changed my mind about skipping ten years for this chapter, as someone asked for this. I found it a bit hard to write, so I hope you like it. However, I shall be skipping a decade next chapter, NO exceptions ;)  
Thanks to dionne dance and whoever the other person was for the reviews! Please keep reviewing, I love to know what you all think! :)**

"Why did I offer to do this, Vicky?" Barnabas said, covering his ears as Clarisse started bawling for her mother once more. This was the first day that he was looking after his daughter. It was only ten o'clock, yet Clarisse had been in tears at least five times already. Each time, Vicky had managed to find a way to calm her down, but only for a few minutes before she started up again.

"Because you're letting Elizabeth have a peaceful day. No wonder she was so worn out. This little girl has a big set of lungs on her, don't you, sweetheart?" Vicky answered, rocking Clarisse in her arms. "Here, why don't you take her? I'll need to go do something. I'll be back soon," she added, taking in Barnabas' panicked stricken face. So far he had managed to avoid the thing. He had thought she would be as easy to handle as Angelique had made her look, but it had turned out to be harder than he could ever imagine.

Vicky passed the red faced and wailing child to Barnabas, smiled at him and walked out of the room. Barnabas swallowed, looked down at his daughter and gazed into the clear, grey eyes that were so like her mother's. The little girl looked back at Barnabas, and slowly, her cries subsided, as her expression turned to curiosity. With her not wailing any more, Barnabas felt more comfortable and smiled at his daughter.

"Hello," he said, and nearly jumped out of his skin when Clarisse smiled slightly and gurgled, wriggling in his arms. "I suppose that's your way of saying hello back," he asked her, but Clarisse just carried on wriggling and smiling, completely the opposite of what she had been a moment ago. "You look like your mother already, you know. I think you'll grow up to look like her. I just hope you don't get so hell bent on revenge like she did." Tentatively, he reached up a thumb and gently moved away a lock of hair from her forehead. "Your mother told me you have been causing Elizabeth a lot of trouble these last few days. You've completely worn her out, you know. We know you miss your mama, but you can't have her all the time. She needs to work to get money to raise you. Plus, she needs her rest too. She's done very well raising you so far…"

Victoria leant on the doorway, smiling as she watched Barnabas talking to Clarisse. She could have stayed there a long time, but suddenly Barnabas looked up and spotted her.

"You've done well with her, I've only been gone a minute and she's already calmed down completely. You must have a knack," Vicky commented.

"She does seem to like me, I suppose," Barnabas said slowly, before completely changing the subject, wanting to pull it away from him and his daughter. "She looks like Naomi, don't you think? The eyes especially."

"Yes. I know, very much so, although, she must have got the black hair from her father, whoever he is. It's sad how he could have possibly even thought about leaving his daughter to grow up without a father…" she trailed off, and Barnabas realised that she must be thinking of her own parents sending her off to an asylum when she was a child.

"Your parents were stupid, sending you away when actually you just had a gift. A gift not many people have. A special gift. Forget about them. You have a new life here."

"Yes, a very happy life, and one that I will live in forever, thanks to you, Barnabas. But still, I feel sorry for Clarisse not having her father when she's growing up. I had mine for a lot longer that she had her father, although, as you were telling her, her mother has done a good job at raising her alone so far."

"Yes, Naomi has done very well," Barnabas murmured, not mentioning how Clarisse wasn't actually going to grow up without a father from now on. He'd have a hard time explaining that he was the father and that Angelique was still alive. He didn't think she'd take too well to the idea that her attempted murderer was living in the same house and he didn't want her thinking that, because he hadn't said anything, that he loved the witch. He didn't love Angelique. Not at all. Maybe he had once, but now, he loved Victoria. His Josette. And he always would.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I am so sorry for the late post! We have limited internet and my brother and his friend used it all up right at the beginning of the month :(. I haven't given up! It really annoys me when people don't finish stories, so I am going to make myself finish anything I post! I promise!  
Thanks to dionne dance, AngeliqueBouchard1972, CybeleSummon, Dark Magical Sorcres and Lady Morgana of Camelot for your reviews, following and favouriting! It all means so much! :D As usual, please keep reviewing! **

**Also, I have just changed this chapter to anyone that's confused, I uploaded this chapter yesterday and then Jynx6 thought it was too soon for Angelique to spill the beans to Clarisse, sorry for the confusion! Thanks to Jynx6 and EleKat for the reviews for the original Chapter 12! Let me know if you think this is better!**

**10 years later…**

Angelique and Clarisse had moved away from Collinwood Manor and bought their own rather modern house in the town. As promised, Barnabas had given the new Angel Bay forty per cent of the fishing boats in the town and they had all been willing to fish for her. There was still a little bit of competition between the two fishing companies, but that was to be expected. Angelique made sure she kept just under Collins Cannery Company so Barnabas didn't have any excuse to reveal her secret. Yet she was happy. She was getting a good reputation in the town once more. People would recognise her and wave, just like they used to.

Clarisse was growing up to look more and more like her parents every day. She still had her large grey eyes and long locks of jet black hair and seemed to permanently have a smile on her face… except for Saturday mornings.

"Clarisse, will you please get up! Your father will be here soon," Angelique called up the stairs.

"Why can't he come some other time? He doesn't have to go to school! This is the only time I get to lie in!" Clarisse shouted back.

"Clarisse Babineaux, get down here this minute! I have told you many times why your father can't see you any other time. Now, are you really going to disappoint him? You only see him once a week!" Since when did her daughter become so argumentative? Angelique thought and made her way up the stairs. It seemed only yesterday that she was a little toddler, learning to walk and talk, giggling whenever she saw her parents. Now, she had grown up. Too fast for Angelique's liking.

"Fine, but it's not fair!" Clarisse answered, seeing her mum in the doorway.

"Do you really not want to see him that much?" Angelique asked.

"I do! It's just… I don't know. I…" she trailed off. "I don't understand why his visits have to be so secret. My friends all ask about my father at school and…" Clarisse broke off again and looked up at her mother.

"I've told you, no one can know. They can't know that I knew your father all those years ago, especially because of Vicky. They'll think that he was committing adultery."

Clarisse's brow crinkled. "What's adultery?" she asked.

"When someone cheats on their girlfriends, boyfriend, husband or wife."

"Oh."

"Now, come on, you need to get dressed. Breakfast is nearly ready downstairs. In fact…" Angelique sniffed the air. "I think I can smell those pancakes I just finished cooking." She smiled at Clarisse. "If you don't come down soon, they might all be gone. You know how much I love pancakes."

Clarisse was out of bed in a flash. She didn't trust her mother when it came to pancakes. Angelique chuckled and headed back downstairs.

When she entered the kitchen, she was shocked to find Barnabas already there, standing in the middle of the room and leaning on his faithful stick.

"Barnabas, you're early. Clarisse is just getting ready, she'll be down in a moment for breakfast."

"Okay. Is there something wrong, Ange, I mean, Naomi?" Barnabas just caught himself in time. Even after a decade of knowing her as Naomi, he still ended up calling her Angelique most of the time. He had to be the most careful when Clarisse was around. She didn't know who her mother actually was. "You look a bit…"

"Clarisse is wanting answers. I don't know what to do. Do you think she's ready to know?"

"I don't know, she is only ten, it's a lot to take in."

"I know, but I hate keeping it from her, I'm so worried I will slip up, even now. Plus, she said her friends ask about her father at school. She doesn't know how to answer them."

"I see, I'm sure you won't slip up, but, you could be right, maybe she is ready. She is bright for her age after all."

"So what do you think? I thought I'd better ask you first. Knowing you, you'd think I was trying to turn her against you if I didn't."

Barnabas smiled at her once he realised she'd been joking. "I think, if she continues to keep asking, then tell her, but do it gently. Maybe do it in bits. Don't tell her who you are, just what we are and maybe–" he broke off as footsteps thundered down the stairs.

Angelique immediately went to put the pile of pancakes on the table and mouthed a 'thank you' at Barnabas, just as Clarisse rushed in.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Here is pretty much what was Chapter 12, but with a different beginning! Sorry for the confusion! Please let me know what you think! :)**

The week went by without another word from Clarisse on her father and Angelique was beginning to hope she'd forgotten about it. However, the next Saturday, the conversation seemed to repeat itself from the previous week.

"You never answer my question, you just say I can't tell anyone. There's another reason, isn't there?" Clarisse demanded stroppily when, once again, Angelique had told her that nobody could know that she had known Barnabas ten years ago.

Angelique sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Maybe, it was time to tell her the truth. Barnabas had said she could after all.

"Look, this is going to be a lot to take in, and it's a long story," she started, sitting on the edge of her daughter's bed. Clarisse nodded for her mother to continue. "You see, I was born in 1753–"

"Don't you mean the 1953?" Clarisse interrupted.

"No, sweetheart, I don't." Clarisse's eyes widened, but she didn't interrupt. "I was born 1753 in Liverpool, England. My mother was a housemaid to the Collin's family and I grew up being trained for service in the house too. Then, in 1760, the Collins moved here, to Collinsport, bringing me and my mother with them. Your father was my master."

"What? Please don't lie to me, mum!"

"I promise I am not lying. I will explain it all to you. But please, promise you will look at me no different, I have changed since then. Since I had you really."

"I promise."

"You see, I fell in love with Barnabas, your father, and I thought he had fallen in love with me. I was happy, I thought I was going to live happily ever after with him. I should have known that fairy tales don't come true. One day, when I asked him to tell me he loved me, he told me he didn't. He said it was not proper for us to have a relationship. Then he proposed to a woman called Josette DuPres. Someone his parents agreed to. I was devastated, but I wanted him to love me. I wanted it so badly that…" Angelique took a deep breath. "That I killed his parents and made Josette kill herself off Widow's Hill. Then I turned your father into a vampire–"

"You… you're a murderer?" Clarisse scooted as far away as she could from her mother.

"Clarisse, please don't move away from me. I told you I've changed, you don't know how much I regret everything I did." Her mother's pleading eyes had Clarisse moving a bit closer to her.

"But… please tell me you're lying. That you're making it up!"

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. All I could see was red back then. I was so in love with him. He led me on. We were supposed to be soul mates. I wanted him to suffer for eternity."

"Then, how did you turn him into a… one of those things?" she asked quietly.

"This part affects you as well, so please don't be frightened. I have powers. I used those. I–"

"You're a witch? Are you seriously trying to tell me that my father is a vampire and my mother is a witch?" Angelique saw that her daughter's eyes were full of panic.

"Yes." Angelique looked almost afraid as she glanced at her daughter. "That is how I am immortal, as we think you are."

"What does that mean? What am I? Mum, I'm confused. I don't understand. Why can't everything be normal?" Clarisse's eyes welled with tears.

"No, no, don't cry. Ssh, my darling," Angelique comforted, rocking her daughter like she used to when she was a baby. "Immortal means that you live forever. We think you might live forever."

"Is that how you…? I'll live forever? Until the end of time? But I don't want to! Everyone I know will die! They'll think I'm weird!"

"No, they won't. You can't tell anyone, do you understand? You will ruin not only your life, but the life of Barnabas, Vicky and me. If they realise who I am then…" Angelique trailed off as she realised she'd said more than she meant to.

"What? What are you talking about mum, please?! I'm so confused!" Clarisse burst into tears. "Who are you? What do you mean?"

"We're not Naomi and Clarisse Babineaux, we're Bouchards."

"Wait, I recognise the name…" Suddenly her eyes opened wide. "The legend! But, no! You're not… you're not, you can't be!"

Before Angelique realised what was happening, Clarisse had shot out of bed and run out the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Clarisse! I'm sorry, please!" Angelique cried, running after her. As she got out the room, she saw the door of the spare room bang shut.

"Go away! I don't want you! Leave me alone!" her daughter shouted.

"Clarisse please. I'm not her anymore!"

"Go away, don't come in! I don't want to talk to you!"

Angelique didn't know what to do. Clarisse had never been so hostile to her. Eventually, she reluctantly walked back down the stairs and into the kitchen, only to sit at the table and cry into her arms. Even with Barnabas, the rejection hadn't felt as bad as this. Angelique felt as though her heart was literally breaking in two.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thanks to francine bouchard and lexette27 for favouriting, following and reviewing and a special thanks to AngeliqueBouchard1972 ;) ****As usual, please let me know what you think! :)**

Angelique only looked up when she heard the back door open. Barnabas was here. Hurriedly, she stood up and tried to wipe her tears away before he saw, but she was too late.

"Angelique? What's happened? Clarisse–"

"She's not hurt, it's just… Oh God, Barnabas, I told you she was curious about why no one could know you were her father, but I told her too much, I didn't mean to. She won't speak to me. She knows… they must have taught her about what happened at school. She knows who I am. She knows I'm a murderer. Who wants a murderer as their mother? She hates me! Oh God, I don't know what to do, she–"

Barnabas was dumbstruck. He had never seen Angelique cry so openly, not in all the years he had known her. Not even when he told her he didn't love her. Maybe this was proof that she had really changed.

"Angelique, where is she? I'll talk to her. She's probably just shocked. She's had a lot to take in. It's not every day you find out that your mother was an evil witch."

"I told her about you too. She knows what we are. What she might be. I'm the worst mother anyone could ever have. I shouldn't have said anything. She's too young."

"Angelique it's my fault also. Plus, not many people have managed a whole decade without having a big argument with their child. She'll come round. Trust me. You are a brilliant mother."

Angelique's head shot up at Barnabas' compliment. He hadn't complimented her since they were… together.

"You… you really mean it?" she asked.

"Yes. I wouldn't want anyone else to mother my child. I mean, like you are now. The old Angelique would never have cried over something like this. I feel like you were right. You have changed."

"What about Vicky?" Angelique was confused. Didn't he want Vicky to mother his child?

"Vicky and I love each other in a different way. She was no good with Clarisse as a baby and I wouldn't want to put all that stress on her. It doesn't mean we don't love each other, because we do and I would never want anyone else." Angelique's face fell at his words. Fortunately for her, he didn't notice and carried on talking. "Look, Angelique, we'll sort it out. Come with me and we'll talk to her. She's had some time to calm down by now."

"Okay." Angelique forced herself to smile at him. "Let me just…" She tried to wipe away any tears.

"Let me," Barnabas said gently and wiped a tear from her cheek that she had missed. His touch made Angelique jump before she felt the familiar spark between them. She tried her best to ignore it, knowing Barnabas didn't feel the same way.

After climbing back up the stairs, Barnabas knocked on the door of the spare room.

"Clarisse, my dear, open the door please. I wish to talk to you and you know I don't have very long before I need to head back," he called. No one answered. "Clarisse, will you please open the door. I only want to talk with you."

There was the sound of shuffling feet before she door clicked, signalling it was unlocked once more. Barnabas looked back at Angelique behind him and smiled before opening the door. "It's probably best if you stay outside for the moment," he told her and stepped inside.

Clarisse had curled herself up against the wall by the door, her head in her arms. Angelique felt a lump forming in her throat. She wanted nothing more than to go over to her daughter and comfort her. However, she knew in this instance it wouldn't work and Clarisse would, most likely, push her away and refuse to talk even more, so she did as Barnabas had told her and stayed outside the door.

"Clarisse, we know you're really confused, but please listen to me. Your mother and I love you with all our hearts," Barnabas started, bending down beside his daughter.

"But she's Angelique Bouchard. She's evil. She–" Clarisse looked up at her father, tears staining her cheeks red.

"She's changed. Your mother is not the person I used to know. After she died, she had you–"

"How did she have me _after_ she died? Surely that's impossible?" Clarisse's curiosity got the better of her sorrow.

"I don't know about what happened after that, your mother never told me, but she can tell you. She'd explain it better."

"I don't know whether I want to talk to her yet. I mean…" Clarisse trailed off.

"I promise you, your mother would never do anything to hurt you, Clarisse, and I wouldn't let her. She told you because she thought you would want to know. If she'd kept it from you longer, wouldn't you have been upset that she didn't tell you?"

Clarisse pondered it for a moment. Maybe her father was right. She would have felt even more hurt if she had found out any other way.

"I suppose… but why did she keep it from me in the first place, why didn't I grow up knowing this?" She folded her arms across her chest angrily.

"It's a secret, you would have told someone, when you were five you wouldn't have known any better and your mother couldn't risk exposure. You do understand that, don't you?" He moved closer to Clarisse and looked her in the eyes. He could see the confusion and hurt in them disappear slightly. She sighed.

"I guess I do. She only did it for me, right? So I would be able to grow up without being rejected because of her past?"

Barnabas smiled in relief. "Yes, I knew you'd get it, my clever girl. Now, are you going to stop causing your mother all this heartbreak and talk to her?" He thought it was most wise to leave out the part about Angelique crying. Clarisse was only ten after all.

"Alright… as long as you stay with me."

"Of course." Barnabas smiled at her as he got up and went to the door.

"You can come in, now," he told Angelique.

"Thank you, Barnabas," she whispered. "I don't know how I'm going to repay you for this."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Okay, so this is my longest chapter yet, but I'm not sure about it. Please let me know if you think it sounds okay or not! :S  
Also thanks to AngeliqueBouchard1972 for reviewing x**

Stepping past Barnabas and into the room, Angelique looked down at her daughter sadly. Seeing her sitting there, her cheeks stained red from crying, made tears well up in her eyes. She took a second to blink them away.

"I'm so sorry, Clarisse," she whispered, bending down, but keeping a fair distance. She didn't want to scare her again.

"I think I understand, mum. I'm sorry too. You look like you've been…" Clarisse trailed off, biting her lip.

Angelique immediately looked away and tried to make the tears that had replaced the ones she'd blinked away, disappear. She knew what her daughter had been going to say and she didn't want her to think that–

"No, I don't want you to cry, mama." Using her old nickname for her mother, Clarisse launched for Angelique and wrapped her arms around her neck. "I didn't mean to make you sad, I'm sorry! Dad didn't say you were upset!"

"No, shh, I'm alright, Clarisse. I didn't mean to frighten you. I'm sorry for being who I am. I truly am. You have nothing to apologise for. If it had been the other way round, I would have reacted far worse than that. You clearly have some of your father's reasoning in you." She brought Clarisse round to sit on her lap and the young girl curled up against her chest.

Barnabas was standing in the doorway, watching and smiling down at the two of them making up with each other. His two girls. Then he shook himself. What was he thinking? Victoria. He loved Victoria. What was he doing forgetting about her? Disgusted with himself, he straightened up.

"Well, I'll be off now. Someone will soon notice my absence. I'll see you both next week," he told them and went to move downstairs.

"Wait, Dad!" Clarisse wriggled from Angelique's grasp and raced after her father. She soon caught up with him and flung her arms around his waist. "I love you."

After getting over the initial shock of being hugged, Barnabas relaxed and stroked his daughter's hair. "I love you too, my dear," he murmured, before breaking away.

"Bye," Angelique called from the doorway of the spare room. Barnabas looked back at her as Clarisse ran back to stand with her mother.

"Goodbye," he said stiffly, trying to brandish from his mind the fact her dark hair was glistening beautifully in the sun, just like it used to. What was wrong with him? Victoria was all he'd ever wanted. Angelique was the person who had tried to kill the only two people he had ever loved, and succeeded with one of them. She was the person who had killed his parents and ruined the life of his descendants!

No, she wasn't, said the little voice in the back of his mind. She had changed. Angelique was no longer the Angelique he had known. She was calmer, nicer, more gentle.

His emotions conflicting, he walked out onto the street, not noticing the two people watching him from a battered yellow Ford Escort up the drive.

"What would you like to do this afternoon, Clarisse? I'll let you choose. We can go shopping, or you could have one of your friends over?" Angelique asked her daughter after Barnabas had left.

"Can we just stay here? I want to know everything about before. I want to know what is true. The stuff they taught us at school is all legend." Clarisse looked nervously up at her mother.

Angelique swallowed. Was her daughter really ready for all that yet? She looked down at Clarisse's pleading eyes.

"Please, mum," Clarisse tried again.

"Alright…" Angelique gave in. "But if it's getting too much, you must tell me, okay?"

"Yes!" Clarisse beamed. She was going to tell her!

"Clarisse?" Angelique told her warningly.

"Yes, I will tell you if it's getting too much."

"Good. Now, what do you want to know?"

"Everything." Clarisse settled back into the chair, looking expectantly at her mother.

"Alright, well you know up to when I came to America don't you? So, after that, well, your father and I, we'd always had a connection, being nearly the same age and growing up in the same house. He was always so nice to me. He was cheeky when he was young, a bit of a bad boy you could say. Always going against whatever his parents told him. That included me. Maybe that's the only reason we were together, he wanted anything that was forbidden, and I was forbidden. I was a servant. In the 1700's, it was not proper for the master of a house to fall in love with a serving girl like me."

"Why? What's wrong with love?" Clarisse interrupted.

"In those days, people just wouldn't accept it. Servants were of a lower class. Some people would think of us as less human. Yet, this didn't deter your father. We were never caught and we were happy, or so I thought. Then the DuPres' showed up with their daughter, Josette. She was a beauty, I will not lie, with pale golden hair and sea green eyes. She was delicate looking, a feature that was greatly looked upon in a lady of those times. Barnabas soon became engaged to her. That was when our relationship fell apart. He had always told me he would find a way to break off any engagements his parents arranged for him, but when I asked him if he was going to that time, he gave me excuses, until one night, he told me he didn't love me. That he loved Josette instead. He had been leading me on.

'I had risked everything for him. My future in the house, the village. If my mother had found out, she would have surely beat me as she often did if I was late or dropped something. He didn't care about that. No, all he cared about was his new fiancée. His love."

"But, how could he do that? How could he leave you like that?" Clarisse had tears in her eyes.

"No, don't cry for me, sweetheart. It all happened a long time ago. I'm happy now. I have you," Angelique comforted, wiping the tears from her daughter's eyes.

"Okay, I'm fine," she said stubbornly, pulling away from Angelique's comforting hands. "What happened next?"

"I was furious. We were supposed to have run away together. To have lived happily ever after. A few weeks later, I made a sculpture fall from the roof and kill the two that I held responsible for taking Barnabas from me. I thought that if Joshua and Naomi Collins hadn't forced my Barnabas to become engaged to Josette, then he would still be mine, and I, his. Your father suspected something of course, but I gave him no excuse to prove it was me until I made Josette throw herself of Widow's Hill. I cursed him to be a vampire after he jumped off after her. He saw me on top of the ledge and he never forgave me after that. I couldn't afford for everyone to find out my secret and so I turned to town against him, leading the mob to his house and then into the woods, where we buried him for nearly 200 hundred years.

'You could imagine my horror when I found out he was freed in 1972. He instantly knew it was me. Just from my touch. I looked completely different with very blonde hair and–"

"I've seen the pictures," Clarisse butted in and then frowned. "Everyone thought you looked… evil in some of them."

Angelique laughed. "Yes, I suppose I did. Well, after he was freed, Elizabeth Stoddard took him in. I had cursed the family already by that time. Making her daughter, Carolyn, into a werewolf and killing young David's mother. I made it my mission to make Barnabas love me again. It didn't work. Well, not in the way I wanted it to. Vicky turned up. She looked so much like Josette, I couldn't believe it when I first saw her. Of course, your father fell for her immediately. I ended up locking Barnabas back in his coffin and trying to kill her the same way as I killed Josette. Yet, Barnabas managed to get free and came to me at Collinswood Manor. Eventually, David's mother, Laura, avenged her death, killing me by throwing me into the chandelier. I tried to show Barnabas I loved him as I was dying by giving him my heart. I died before he took it."

When she looked back at her daughter, Angelique saw that Clarisse was staring at her in horror. But as soon as she saw her mother had finished, she gulped.

"Your heart, after you died, it… it shattered in your hand. That's what Dad said to everyone."

"Well, it seems you know more about that than I do," Angelique smiled sadly.

"What happened after that? How did you come back? You were dead."

"I was transported back to the 18th century. I don't know how myself. I gave birth to you there and, you know the portraits in my office?"

"Yes. The ones with you in those pretty dresses?"

"Yes, those. Well, I had one of them in the house I was living in and I came back via that. I became friends with Elizabeth and she took me on a housemaid. Ironic really, as that's where I first started out in this country. When I had raised enough money to buy a house for us, I bought this. Do you remember that? You were five, I think."

"I think, maybe. I remember coming here the first time. Didn't I like the elevator?" Clarisse asked.

"Yes, you did," Angelique laughed. "You wanted to stay in there and ride up and down again."

Clarisse giggled. "I think I've grown out of that now!"

Yes, she'd really grown up since then, Angelique thought to herself. Perhaps a little too fast for her liking.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Thanks to lexette27 and the guest who reviewed. Reviews mean so much to me! :) I might be editing this chapter later because I'm not sure of some of it, but enjoy :D **

Weeks went by and everything seemed to go well. Clarisse was slowly getting used to the fact she was the daughter of a witch and a vampire, asking Angelique question after question until she'd completely tired the topic out.

"I think you must know everything I know now, Clarisse," Angelique chucked as her daughter opened her mouth to ask another question.

"I'm just worried about when I get older. What happens if someone finds out? What happens if I am a witch and I do something by accident? Everyone will hate me, and as you said, they'll realise the legend isn't a legend! Everyone will be in danger!"

"Calm, Clarisse. You don't need to worry about it. We don't even know whether you're a witch. It is very possible that the powers weren't passed on. There is nothing for you to worry about, I promise you." She looked down at her daughter only to see that she wasn't listening and was staring out of the window behind Angelique. The witch spun round. There was nothing there. "Clarisse? Clarisse, what are you looking at?"

A frown of puzzlement crossed over the face of the girl. "I thought I saw someone, watching us. I…" She walked to the window and looked out. No one was there. "It must have been in my head, but I thought I… it doesn't matter."

"No, if you saw something, you must tell me. You know I have a lot of enemies. Did you recognise them?"

"No, I didn't really see them. All I saw was curly blonde hair, and I'm not even sure whether it was something. It might have just been my imagination!"

"Alright, it's just I've had the same feeling a lot. When I'm on my way to work and when I'm collecting you from school, a few times I've seen a yellow ford… the same yellow ford, following me. I'm sorry, but I just don't want anything to happen to you. I love you too much."

"You feel watched? Why haven't you told me? You said you wouldn't keep anything from me!" Clarisse cried.

"I was going to tell you this evening, Clarisse. It just didn't seem very important. Now, come on, I'll cook you something nice for tea. How about baked beans and fish fingers? Your favourite."

"Yes, please!" All upset was suddenly forgotten as Clarisse bounded into the kitchen after her mother.

* * *

"Barnabas, I feel as though you should stop coming to us for a while," Angelique blurted out the next Saturday morning as the vampire was leaving. He stopped in his tracks and swung round.

"Whatever for?"

"I've had the feeling of someone watching Clarisse and I and there's been a yellow ford escort following us, I'm sure of it! Plus, the other day, Clarisse thought she saw someone out of the window. She said she saw curly blonde hair." Angelique looked at Barnabas and sighed. "I'm worried. I want Clarisse to be safe. I know it sounds as though I want to stop you from seeing her, but I really don't."

"It certainly sounds like you do!" Barnabas snapped, glaring angrily at Angelique. "You're being absurd! Of course there's no one following you, you're making it all up so you can have Clarisse to yourself!"

"Barnabas, I never said you couldn't ever see her again! Please, I just think it would be for the best. Only for a couple of weeks! Not forever! I want my daughter growing up seeing her father!"

"I should have known you'd never change. You've manipulated me to gain my trust! You've been planning this! You saw I was getting too close to Clarisse for your liking!"

"No, Barnabas! I love you, I would never–!"

"I should have guessed, I should have known that Angelique Bouchard could never change! You are a selfish, lying witch. You do not love me. You cannot love! It's all an act!"

"I love you, I love Clarisse! Barnabas, you can't do this!" Tears started to fall down Angelique's cheeks; she couldn't believe Barnabas' reaction.

"Victoria was right! She told me she didn't trust you, and she only knows you as Naomi. She felt something wasn't right when you met up this week!

I tried to brush it off, but now I can see she was right! My bond with Clarisse is getting too tight for your liking, isn't it, Angelique?"

"What? Vicky? She's making it up! I haven't been planning anything! You know I'm not trying to take her–"

"I want word that Clarisse will be packed next Saturday and ready for me to collect her to take her back to Collinwood by Friday, or I'll tell the Sheriff who you really are!"

"Barnabas, you can't do this to me! She's the only thing that keeps me happy. She means the world to me!" This couldn't be happening, Angelique thought desperately. She couldn't lose her Clarisse!

"One week!"

"Barnabas, no, please!"

His eyes were cold and hard as he gave her one more glance before striding off down the drive. "I said, one week."

As soon as he was out of sight, Angelique shut the door and slumped against the wall, covering her face with her hands. How could he do this to her? What had Vicky said to him to convince him so? He couldn't take away her Clarisse! Only a few weeks ago, he'd said he wouldn't want anyone else to mother his child and now he was taking her away!

"Mum? Mum, what happened? I heard shouting," Clarisse asked, tugging on her mother's blouse as she came into the kitchen. "Mum? Why are you crying?"

"Oh, Clarisse, my sweetheart, it's nothing for you to worry about, it's just… your father has decided that you are going to live with him from next week." Angelique tried not to let her voice crack as she spoke.

"But, I don't want to! I want you! Why are you doing this?"

"I don't want you to go, my love. I don't! He'll make sure I never see you again!"

"Why? You haven't done anything! I won't go!" Clarisse cried defiantly.

"You must. I have to send word to him by Friday saying you'll be ready for him on Saturday, or he'll tell the Sheriff who I really am."

"No! He can't do that! Why would he do that?"

"He thinks I'm trying to take you away from him. I asked him not to come for a few weeks because of our feeling of being watched, but Vicky's convinced him that he can't trust me. I don't know how or why, but she has."

"She knows who you are?"

"No, she doesn't. According to your father, she thought something was up when I met with her and Elizabeth for coffee the other day. She doesn't know about who your father is either. I don't understand it!"

"I can't go without you! I won't go! I love you!"

Angelique tried to wipe the tears from her daughter's face.

"Clarisse, you have to calm down, you're getting hysterical! You'll be happy living in Collinwood Manor. You'll have Elizabeth, your father, Vicky, David…"

"You won't be there! You won't be happy!"

"Shh, this is not about me, Clarisse. I'll manage, I'll be fine, I really will." Angelique carried Clarisse over to a kitchen chair and sat her down before kneeling on the ground. "Trust me when I say you'll be happy, you must forget about me and get on with your life."

"How can I? I'll hear about you all the time!"

Angelique took her daughter's hands in her own and looked up at her. "No, you won't. I'll move away from here. Everyone else will forget about me, and you will also."

"I can't forget about you, I've lived with you for ten years!"

"You must try. Think of me as the witch everyone hates."

"I can't! You've changed, Dad said so himself!"

"Try for me, Clarisse. Please, you must try. Your father doesn't believe I have changed anymore, he believes it was all an act. You must try and believe the same."

"But it's not! You love me, don't you? Tell me you love me and I'll try. Tell me it's not an act." Fresh tears made their way down her face.

To lie and tell her she didn't love her would only break her heart, Angelique realised, however much Barnabas would want her to think it. She wanted her daughter to be happy.

"Of course I love you, sweetheart. I've always loved you and I always will, no matter what your father thinks, but you must at least pretend you think it's all an act. Your father will hammer that into you and you must at least make them think you believe that. Now, come on, no more tears. We still have a week to enjoy ourselves and we must make the most of it."

"I love you mum, nothing will ever change that, and when I'm grown up, I'll come and find you. I'll search around the world for you. I have all of eternity and I will find you again. I promise."


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Thank you to Lady Howard, DeadThingHanging, Fact1-I-Hate-You, 2BeautifulBrownEyes, AngelqueBouchard1972, wolf, lexette27 and grownupandblownaway for reviewing, favouriting or following. It all means so much to me!  
I hope this chapter is okay, please review! **

"What do you want to do today?" Angelique asked Clarisse over breakfast. "We can do whatever you want to, seeing as though you have to go to school tomorrow."

"Um… can we do what we used to do? You know, walk along the beach and the port and have an ice cream and then go to McDonalds?"

"Of course, if that's what you want to do." Angelique was surprised, she hadn't asked to do that since she was about six. She thought her daughter had grown out of it. But if that's what she wanted to do, then they'd do it.

"This is our last full day together, isn't it?" Clarisse asked quietly after a moment, looking up at her mother. Angelique could see the tears in gleaming in her eyes, threatening to spill over, and a lump formed in her throat.

"This is going to be the best day we've ever had, alright? There's no need to cry, we're still going to see each other this week, sweetheart. I don't want to remember you being sad, I want to remember the happy, pretty little girl that my daughter has always been. The best daughter anyone could ever wish for."

Clarisse smiled faintly for a moment. "I'll try. I'm… going to go get dressed." She got up and started to walk out of the kitchen, only to stop as she got to the door and run over to her mother, throwing her arms around her tightly. "I don't want to go! I want to stay with you forever, mum. Please don't make me go!"

Despite the tears also welling in her eyes, she wrapped her arms around her daughter and murmured in her ear. "I have no choice, sweetie. I'll go to jail if they find out who I really am, then we'll never be together."

"But, surely dad doesn't want me to be unhappy? I thought he loved me."

"He does love you, although I can't what he wants to achieve with this. He always thinks he's right though. Barnabas Collins can never be wrong in his mind."

"I'm going to refuse to go. I'll fight him and even if he gets me to that mansion, then I'll run away. I won't stop trying."

"No, Clarisse. You have to be good. He'll think I've set you up to it. Promise me you'll be good. No running away nonsense. I need you to be safe and with your father, you will be."

Clarisse pulled back and sniffed, wiping her eyes. "Fine… I promise I'll be good, mum."

"Right, come on, go up and get dressed or we'll never get out."

Clarisse smiled weakly again and walked out of the room. Angelique waited until she heard her footsteps up the stairs before piling their dishes in the dishwasher and following her. Was Barnabas really trying to destroy their daughter's happiness? Or was it he had underestimated how much this would hurt her? There was nothing she could do but go along with it though. Barnabas wouldn't listen to her.

* * *

At least they had a nice day, thought Angelique as they stepped out onto the beach. The sun was shining down on the sea, making it glitter and seem more blue than normal. There was a cool breeze, but seeing as there were no trees, the only things to be heard was the waves softly rolling onto the sand and the few people running about splashing in the waves and building sandcastles. Further round with the rocks would have been noisier, but no one really ventured there anymore, not unless they were looking for some alone time.

"We haven't done this in a while," Angelique stated.

"It's just one of my happiest memories. I will never do this with anyone else. This is our thing. I want to remember it like that."

"I used to love doing this too. I never did anything like this in my childhood."

"What did you used to do then?"

"I worked. My mother was a servant and therefore I was brought up as a servant. As soon as I was old enough to be able to carry trays and polish things thoroughly I was handed an apron and set to work. My mother never had time to take me out on trips. I don't think she would have if she did."

"Why, didn't she love you?"

Angelique gazed off across the sea. "I don't know. I think she thought I was a trouble maker. I had made friends with your father and when they found out, they threatened to send me and my mother away if I didn't stop seeing him. My mother was always harsh on me after that, although she never found out I later had a relationship with him."

"Oh."

"So then, what ice cream flavour are you going to go for? Chocolate chip or something different?" Angelique said, changing the subject.

"Same as usual," Clarisse smiled. "What about you?"

"I think I'll try your regular."

"Come on then. I'll race you to the ice cream van. I bet I'll beat you, like always." Clarisse stuck out her tongue and started running.

"Hey, that's not fair! You got a head start!" Angelique complained, but ran after her daughter anyway. Of course Clarisse won, as usual.

Everything was going perfectly until they were sat in McDonalds, eating their dinner. They had managed to nab a window seat and were watching as the cars drove by. They were playing a game, Angelique was counting the red cars and Clarisse the yellow ones. However, both of them spotted the yellow ford escort driving slowly through the car park, trying to find a space.

"Mum," Clarisse said hesitantly.

"I know, finish your meal quickly. We need to go. It's getting late anyway."

There was silence as both tried to eat as fast as they could, game forgotten. Both had their eyes on the car as it picked a spot in their view. No one got out.

"Who is it?" Clarisse asked, finishing the last of her burger.

"I don't know. I can't see them. Are you done?"

"Yes."

Angelique got up suddenly and picked up the tray. "Come on, let's go."

They put the rubbish in the bin and hurried out to Angelique's black Cadillac. Clarisse watched as the ford moved, following them out of the car park, but making sure to keep a fair distance behind.

"Mum, it's following us," Clarisse whispered worriedly.

Angelique glanced in the rear-view mirror. Sure enough, the yellow ford was cruising along a couple of cars behind.

"Clarisse, don't worry, it's fine. We'll be fine once we get home."

"I'm scared. Why is this happening to us? Why is everything going wrong?"

"I don't know, sweetheart, I really don't know."

"Could someone have found out?"

"What?"

"Could someone have found out who you are?"

All colour drained from Angelique's face as she pondered her daughter's words. It was possible, if Barnabas had told someone. But why would he put his daughter in danger?

"Mum?"

"Don't worry about it. Please trust me. It's probably your father checking that I'm not running away with you."

"Really?"

"Yes," Angelique said firmly, trying to reassure herself as well. It had been following her for the last week. The same amount of time that Barnabas had been suspicious for…

* * *

A couple of streets down from the Babineaux's cottage, two figures sat huddled in a yellow ford escort.

"So, when are we going to act?"

"The girl goes back to school tomorrow. We've seen that she walks the short way to the witch's work alone. We'll do it then."

"I can't do it, she'll recognise me."

"No, that's what we need. She'll come with you. I'll drive. That witch will pay for what she did to us and our family. There won't be anything she can do when her daughter doesn't turn up after school. Barnabas will just think it's a ploy to stop him from taking their daughter."

"Fine. Tomorrow it is. I can't wait to see the look on her face when her precious daughter goes missing."

"I caught her scent as soon as I entered town. How dare she come back here after everything she did! And how dare she attempt to take Barnabas away from you again! She must be using some kind of spell so that he doesn't tell on her. You've nearly broken that. That witch needs to be taught a lesson."

"And she will be, Carolyn."


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I haven't had time to really go through it, so sorry for any mistakes etc. It's just I'm going out this evening and I thought you'd want it sooner rather than later! Enjoy and please review!  
Thanks to anyone who reviewed the last chapter!**

Monday was a normal day. They got up, had breakfast and then Angelique drove Clarisse to school before heading down the street to Angel Bay's offices. When she had first been looking for a place, she had deliberately chosen the building just down the road from the school so Clarisse could walk there after she had finished at 3pm. Plus, from her window, Angelique could watch for her coming every day. It had worked well because Clarisse only had to stay at her mother's office an hour before they headed home, and in that time, she usually sat at Angelique's desk, quietly doing her homework.

After arriving that morning, Angelique sat in her private office and worked on the figures, profits and losses before calling a meeting to discuss where they wanted to go next with the company. She hated meetings. All of her staff were men older than her and they just sat there the whole time, ogling her, and agreeing with pretty much everything she said. However, there was no one else that wanted the job of helping the boss with decisions, so she put up with it.

Meanwhile, Clarisse was busy at school. First they had had a maths class. She didn't like maths. She could do it, but she found it dull. All those numbers swimming on the page before her just bored her to tears. Not to mention the times when the teacher had to go over it again and again because some people still didn't get how three was a factor of twelve. Usually, she resorted to doodling in the back of her book instead.

However, in the afternoon they were cooking. This was one subject Clarisse did like, even if she couldn't always get her cake a nice golden colour because she called the teacher to get it out of the oven at the wrong time, or if the icing was too runny to stay on the cake because she put too much water in it. She partly enjoyed it because she loved seeing her mother's reaction when she brought it home and watching her as she ate it. Angelique always enjoyed whatever she'd made, or at least made it look like she did. Clarisse was rather sure her cooking didn't always taste very nice, but Angelique would eat it anyway.

The afternoon went quickly and soon the bell rang, signalling the end of the day. Today Clarisse had made cupcakes with pink icing and sprinkles, although she had a little help from her teacher so that she didn't stain her uniform or apron with red colouring or put in more than the required couple of drops. As usual, her hair was full of flour and her apron covered in snowy white handprints.

"It seems you've enjoyed yourself, Clarisse," her teacher laughed as she helped her clean up. She was the last one there, the other students all going straight after the bell because their mothers were waiting outside the gates.

"Yes! I like cooking, especially cakes."

"I think everybody can tell. You may need to get the flour out of your hair before you head to your mother's office. I doubt she'll be pleased if you let it drop everywhere."

"No, probably not." Clarisse bit her lip to stifle a giggle, she could imagine her mother's face if she made a mess in her office. She definitely wouldn't be very happy with her. But, maybe she would let her off because… Clarisse's face dropped. She didn't like thinking about it. Why had she let that enter her mind? This would be the last time she ever cooked for her mother.

"Are you alright? Clarisse?" Her teacher was concerned. "Is there something wrong?"

"No. No, I just have to go. I just remembered."

"Oh, don't worry, just leave the mess. I'll clear it up. Thank you for your help."

"Thank you." With one small smile at her teacher, she picked up her box full of cakes and her schoolbag and left the room.

She hurried out of the school gates and down the road. How could she have forgotten? How could she have forgotten that she only had five days left to spend with her mother? She needed to spend every minute she could with her and there she was, dawdling while cleaning up after all her fellow pupils had left. What did she think she was doing?

Clarisse was so absorbed in reprimanding herself that she didn't notice the buildings as she walked past them, or the fact the street was completely empty. She didn't even hear the yellow ford cruising slowly up the street and stopping just behind her until someone suddenly grabbed her round the waist. She dropped her cakes in surprise, after being cruelly jerked from her thoughts and opened her mouth to scream, but before she could, a hand was clapped hard over her mouth.

"Now, if I were you, I'd come quietly," hissed a female voice in her ear as she was dragged backwards. She recognised it. But she couldn't place it. She didn't want to. She wanted to escape. She needed to. She needed her mother. "Stop struggling, you little wretch. You're only going to make this harder on yourself!"

However, at that point, Clarisse spotted the yellow ford and panicked, struggling even more. This wasn't a random hit, it was planned. The people kidnapping her were the ones that had been following her and her mother for the last week or so!

"Knock her out if she's giving you that much trouble" came a voice from inside the car. Clarisse thrashed against her captor, twisting in an attempt to escape, not caring when her schoolbag slipped down from her shoulder and onto the ground. She couldn't let this happen!

Suddenly the hand was moved from her mouth, but before she could scream for help, something slammed into the back of her head, just behind her ear. There was a sharp burst of pain before she slumped, the surroundings dissolving into blackness…

* * *

"Clarisse?" Angelique called, coming into her office after the last meeting of the day. No one answered. "Clarisse?" Silence. "Come on out, it's not funny." Still nothing.

Perhaps she hadn't left school yet? They had cooking on Monday afternoons, didn't they? Angelique looked at the clock. 3:20. It was a bit too soon for her to have left yet, so, feeling more content, Angelique went to sit behind her desk, checking her emails, in case something had come up.

However, all of a sudden, there came an echoing bang of a car door, followed by the awful squeal of tyres. It was so loud that it had Angelique's head snapping round to look out of the window. A yellow ford escort was screaming down the road. _The_ yellow escort. Angelique stood up suddenly. There was no sign of Clarisse. She couldn't have left school yet, Angelique reminded herself. She tended to help her teacher with the clearing up after the other kids had left.

But then she saw them. The cakes strewn over the pavement, and a bag thrown carelessly beside it. Clarisse's bag.

Angelique stood frozen a second. She was kidding herself. She had to be seeing things. Clarisse couldn't have been… kidnapped. She looked back. The bag and cakes were still there. She jumped into action, sprinting out of her room and down the stairs, ignoring the confused glances of her employees, and ran out of the building, not stopping until she was next to Clarisse's belongings. Falling down beside them, she opened the bag, praying that it was someone else's, although the rational part of her mind was telling her it was definitely her daughter's. She took out a book and turned it over. Sure enough, there was one name on it. Clarisse Babineaux.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Thanks to Wolf for reviewing! Reviews really keep me motivated! Please tell me what you think of this chapter! :) Sorry if it sounds rushed, I'm trying to revise for science exams this week :(**

Angelique gazed at the book in her hands, her mind not processing what staring her clear in the face. She must have read it wrong. Clarisse couldn't have been taken. It had to be some mistake. Maybe some other child had taken one of her books?

Breaking out of her daze, she rummaged through the bag again. But every book had her name on, her pencil case was in there; the book she had been reading. She sat back.

"No," she whispered finally. "No, not Clarisse. Please, not Clarisse." She let a tear slip down her cheek. Why had she let her walk alone? Especially with that car following them recently. Something had been bound to happen. And now, because she hadn't taken any precautions, it had.

"Naomi, what happened? Are you alright?" a woman's voice panted, making Angelique jump. Hastily, she wiped away the tear and turned round, looking into the face of her secretary, who was breathing heavily from running down the street after her.

"Tess. I'm fine. Um…" she tried to pull herself together. It would do her no good to have everybody know. She didn't want the sheriff involved. He was too close to Barnabas and Barnabas would probably think she'd staged it so she could keep Clarisse. "I have to go home. There's something I need to sort out. I should be back in tomorrow."

"You startled a few of us running out like that, are you sure there is nothing I can do?" she said as she helped Angelique up of the ground.

"Yes," she said firmly, picking up her daughter's belongings.

"Wait. Isn't that Clarisse's bag? Naomi, tell me what's happened? If something's happened to Clarisse –"

"It hasn't!" she snapped. "Now, if you would excuse me…" She started to stalk away.

"Are you in a fit state to drive? I could take you home if you want?"

"No, go back to the office. Tell them I've had to go home." With that, she left Tess standing there, staring after her in shock. Her boss had never been so demanding.

* * *

When Clarisse awoke, she groggily realised that she was lying in a bed. As her eyes focused, she looked round. It seemed she was in a child's bedroom, but not any bedroom she recognised. The walls were a pale yellow and there were toys neatly stacked against one wall. She had long outgrown those types of toys. Where was she? She looked over to the window, only to see it had heavy bars across it, like in a nursery. She looked around again. Surely, if she was… yes, there it was, in the corner by the door. A cot. So, she _was_ in a nursery. But why? What had happened?

She tried to sit up, but an aching pain behind her ear stopped her and she lay back down. Had she hit her head? But, if she had, where was her mother? She would always stay with her when she hurt herself.

While she was busy asking herself so many questions, the door creaked. Clarisse's head shot up as it opened and a young woman walked in. Clarisse frowned. The face didn't seem familiar, but something faintly tugged at her mind as she took in the woman's dark blonde hair that fell in waves down past her shoulders. Something, again, she couldn't quite put her finger on. However, she was certain they hadn't met.

"So you're awake? I brought you some food," the woman said.

She recognised that voice though, Clarisse realised. She'd heard it somewhere recently…

Then it all came flooding back to her:

_"Now, if I were you, I'd come quietly," hissed a female voice in her ear as she was dragged backwards. "Stop struggling, you little wretch. You're only going to make this harder on yourself!" _

_"Knock her out if she's giving you that much trouble,"_ _came a voice from inside the car._

_Suddenly the hand was moved from her mouth, but before she could scream for help, something slammed into the back of her head, just behind her ear. There was a sharp burst of pain before she slumped, the surroundings dissolving into blackness…_

_"Knock her out if she's giving you that much trouble." _That's what she'd said. This woman was the driver of the yellow ford!

"Get away from me!" she yelled suddenly, clambering out of the bed, not caring that her head throbbed and she felt dizzy.

"Get back into bed," the woman growled.

"What do you want from me? I haven't done anything to you. I don't even know who you are!"

"Don't even try and get out that door, you little wretch. You won't get very far and you really don't want to see me when I'm angry. I can promise you that."

"What do you want from me?" Clarisse repeated.

"How about you get back into bed, and then I'll tell you?"

Clarisse glared at the woman, but reluctantly edged back over to the bed, all the time warily watching her kidnapper. There was no point in not doing as she said. She would get no answers and be in more trouble than she was already.

"Good girl."

Clarisse ignored her. "Who are you?" she spat.

The woman growled, and crouched low to place the tray on the floor beside her. "I'm not surprised the witch didn't tell you about me. Ashamed of what she did?" She snarled. "Never. That witch has another thing coming to her. She probably thought you were too fragile to take it, to believe she would send a werewolf to bite Carolyn in her crib!"

"You're Auntie Elizabeth's daughter!" she realised in shock.

Carolyn's eyes flashed dangerously. "If you don't be quiet, I won't answer your questions and you'll be left here all alone."

Clarisse swallowed and bit her lip nervously. She didn't like this. Why couldn't she go home? Why was everything happening to her.

"Good, now, you wanted to know why you are here, am I correct?" Clarisse nodded. "You're not here because of what you've done. I knew your mother, you see. Knew her for the vile monster she is."

"My mother is not–" She was cut off by a sharp strike across the face. She cried out, clutching at her cheek, where a red mark was spreading out in the shape of a handprint.

"You have no idea what your mother was like! She cursed our family. She killed David's mother, she sent a werewolf to bite me in my crib. Angelique Bouchard has had this coming to her for a while. Do you know how ridiculously stupid she was to think somebody wouldn't find out her little secret? I sensed her the moment I stepped foot in the town. I will never, ever forget her scent. Not after she ruined our lives."

Clarisse just stared at her, wide eyed, as she continued to rant.

"Angelique needs to have a taste of her own medicine. She needs to feel how it is to lose someone she loves. I know that she loves you. I've watched you together. Who ever thought the witch would be able to love like that?"

"No, please!" Even at the tender age of ten, Clarisse knew what she was saying.

"I'm sure just a small push of Widow's Hill would do it, even if you are like her."

"But I'm –"

"If you're trying to say that you're going to live with your father, then I already know. But have you ever thought that, even if Barnabas wants you, someone else might not? Vicky for, example? She doesn't want to live with a child Barnabas had with another woman. No one would want that. Especially the child of a monster who tried to kill her."

Vicky. That was the other voice. The one who had grabbed her from behind. The one who had knocked her out. Vicky, Barnabas' girlfriend. But how had she known about her father?


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to update, but I found this chapter really hard to write. I'm still not entirely happy with it, so please review and let me know what you think!  
Also, thanks to Dark Magical Sorcres, jaevees, wolf, , ceb521 and the guest for reviewing, following or favouriting! :D**

Angelique knew she had been harsh to Tess, but as she got into her car, she found she didn't really care. Her baby was gone. And she had no idea where or how to find her. Sitting down and shutting the door, she placed her head on the steering wheel, attempting to think straight for a moment. She couldn't go to Barnabas, that was for sure. He would think of it as a ploy that she had come up with to stop her from taking their daughter. But who else could she go to? Who else could she trust? Elizabeth? It would have to be. There was no one else.

She started her car and reversed from the space, not really paying much attention to what she was doing. Where was Clarisse now? Was she alright? What if she was hurt? Alone? Frightened? This was all her fault. If only she had collected her from the school gates. None of this would have happened. They would have been at home. Safe.

As she made her way up the mansion, she could only focus on the road. Normally, she would look around and smile at people as she went past, but this time she just couldn't. It was as though she was dead inside. Empty. It was worse than when Barnabas had rejected her all those years ago; worse than when Clarisse had nearly broken her heart in two a few weeks ago. She just couldn't feel… anything.

She hardly noticed as she got to the gates of the house and drove up the drive. She barely registered it as she stopped her car in the middle and got out, walking to the door as if in a gaze. The knocker banged loudly, echoing in the surroundings and, to Angelique as she stood there, it seemed an age before anyone opened the door.

"Can I help you?" Willie asked drowsily, clearly not recognising the fact the woman in front of him had lived and worked for the same house as him up until a few years ago.

"Elizabeth. I need to speak to Elizabeth. It's urgent."

"She said she don't wanna see anyone today," Willie said, and went to shut the door. Angelique quickly slipped her foot out and stopped the door from slamming in her face.

"Please."

"Who's there, Willie?" came Elizabeth's voice from inside the hallway. The old man looked at Angelique expectantly.

"Elizabeth? It's Naomi," she called, although her voice was thick with the lump that seemed to have permanently wedged itself in her throat quarter of an hour ago.

"Naomi? Let her in, Willie."

Willie shrugged and opened the door wider, allowing Angelique through before shutting it behind her.

"Naomi? Is everything alright?" Elizabeth hurried down the steps as soon as she saw that her friend seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"Oh God, Elizabeth. I didn't know who else to come to. I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. Tell me what's wrong. Where's Clarisse?"

At the mention of her daughter's name, Angelique felt a tear trickle slowly down her face. She felt mortified. She never cried in front of people. Quickly she reached up and wiped it away, but she was too late. Elizabeth had already seen.

"Oh, Naomi, come sit down." Elizabeth put an arm around her shoulders and led her over to the sofa. The sofa she had sat on just about ten years ago when she had first come to the house after burning it down. When Clarisse had still been a baby. "Tell me what's happened. Start from the beginning. We'll sort it out, don't worry."

"We can't. I've been so stupid. My only child. I should have taken precautions. I'm an awful mother. What mother could let that happen right in front of her eyes?" She couldn't look at Elizabeth as she spoke, her eyes mesmerised by the dancing flames in the fireplace in front of her.

"Start from the beginning, Naomi," Elizabeth told her gently.

"Sorry, I… It started a week ago. I… I noticed a car following us. I didn't take much notice at the time, but… it kept following us for the whole week and then today, Clarisse she–" Angelique broke off, taking a deep breath as tears threatened to spill again. "She was taken, by the same car. I saw it drive off. Her things were left on the pavement. I was so irresponsible. Why did I let her walk alone? Why was I so foolish?"

"Oh, Naomi! I'm so sorry. Clarisse…" She shook her head. "The poor child. Take all the time you need. You are welcome to stay here for a few days if you want, but we will find her. Do you know why anyone would target her?"

Anger bubbled up inside of Angelique. How dare she ask such a personal question? It wasn't any of her business. There was no way she was going to tell _her_ the truth!

"No, of course not! I wouldn't be here otherwise, would I?" she snapped, then immediately regretted it when she looked away from the fireplace and saw that Elizabeth looked rather hurt. "I'm sorry, I…"

Elizabeth smiled and waved away the apology. "No, no. It's quite understandable, you've been through a lot. Did you see the car?"

"Yes, it was a yellow Ford Escort with a number plate of 782 993."

All Angelique heard was Elizabeth's gasp. "What?"

"Is there something wrong with a yellow Ford Escort? Do you know the owner?" Angelique sat up straighter.

"Yes, I think I do, but it can't be. She wouldn't…" Elizabeth sat down heavily. "My daughter, Carolyn, has one, but I haven't seen her since she ran away after the house burned down nearly ten years ago. She's rung me a few times to let me know she's alright, but she never said she was back in town."

"Are you sure it's her?" It would make sense, Angelique thought to herself. She was a were-wolf, she would have smelt her scent as soon as she stepped into town. She would have wanted revenge.

"Yes, I remember her telling me that she'd bought a car recently. She also told me that the number plate was exactly the same as the one you've just said. But, I just don't understand, why would Carolyn do this?"

"Carolyn do what?" came a male voice. Both women looked up. "What's going on? Why is Naomi here?"

"Oh, Barnabas, Clarisse has been taken! And Naomi saw the car. Carolyn's car. It can't have been her, surely? Why would she do this? Carolyn, kidnapping a young girl? What did I do wrong?" Tears were starting to slip down her cheeks, and in that moment, Angelique felt something she had never properly felt before. Guilt. This was her fault. Elizabeth, her friend, was in tears because Angelique had reduced Carolyn to crime to get her revenge.

"Elizabeth, it's alright. Why don't you go and calm yourself down whilst I have a word with Naomi?" Barnabas suggested calmly.

"Yes, yes, that's a good idea. I-I'm sorry," she said and hurried out of the room, too upset to even notice that Barnabas' glaring eyes had not left her friend's face since he had first entered the room.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Sorry it took so long! I've had a ton of art coursework to do and I'm also redecorating my room atm! Anyway, thanks to Dark Magical Sorcres for reviewing! I now have 50 reviews! I never thought I'd have so many! It really means a lot so I would be grateful if you let me know what you think of this chapter!**

"What do you think you are doing?" Barnabas bellowed as soon as Elizabeth had left the room. "I know this is all a ploy to stop me taking her from you."

"Barnabas, please, it is not a ploy. Do you think I would have gone to Elizabeth if it was? No, I would have come to you. It might not occur to you that she's a good friend, and to see her so upset like that is horrible."

"You know I cannot believe you. This has come at a time far too convenient for me to let it aside," he said obstinately, making Angelique sigh.

"Barnabas, you remember I told you that a yellow ford was following us on Saturday? Well, that yellow ford was Carolyn's. Elizabeth just confirmed the number plate. I _saw_ that car take Clarisse. She's in danger. If Carolyn knows who I truly am, and she probably does because she's a werewolf, this is likely to be some act of revenge. Revenge that she's going to take out on Clarisse. Barnabas, please listen to me!" Tears were starting to well up in her eyes again as the vampire looked away from her once more, refusing to listen to what he thought were excuses. "She could die! Does that not matter to you? Do you really hate me that much that you are willing to let your only child die?"

"Enough, Angelique! I will listen to this no more. If you do not get out of my house this instant, then, by tomorrow the whole town will know who you truly are."

"Barnabas, you cannot do this, please! Our Clarisse–!" She was cut off as Barnabas roughly took hold of her arm and started to drag her towards the front door. "Barnabas, why can't you listen to me this once? Barnabas, please!"

But the vampire continued not to listen, opening the door and throwing her outside.

"And don't even think about coming back!" he snapped harshly, slamming the door.

"Barnabas, please! You have to believe me. Clarisse could die!" Silence. "Barnabas, I beg of you. You have to help me!" Still nothing. Angelique battered her fists against the door in frustration before giving up and falling against the wall, letting herself slide down it, defeated. What was she going to do now? She knew that she had to find Clarisse and it seemed as though she would be doing it alone. Yet, where did she start? Where would Carolyn be? The only thing she could do would to drive round town until she spotted the ford, but Carolyn wasn't stupid. She would have hidden the car by now, plus anything she thought incriminating.

Angelique put her head in her hands, trying to keep the tears away. She knew she couldn't stay here all night, if she had nothing else she could do today then she would have to head home. Her stomach flipped at the thought of going home without her daughter. The house would feel empty without Clarisse. It would be like there was a big hole in her life. Yet there was nothing she could do about it.

Reluctantly, she got up and walked back over to her car. Even driving in that felt wrong without her daughter by her side, but, trying to ignore it, she got in and slowly drove back to her house. If anyone had seen her, they probably wouldn't have recognised the slumped, solemn looking figure behind the wheel as their beloved Naomi, not with her face so pale and lifeless, her blank eyes watching the road ahead, not paying attention to anyone else other than the dark grey tarmac. No, it was as though she had had many sleepless nights. She just looked so… so dead and it had only been a couple of hours since Clarisse had gone.

Once she'd driven up the drive, she sat in her car a few moments, not wanting to go inside and be met with the loneliness that awaited her. When she finally persuaded herself that she couldn't avoid it any longer, she found herself unlocking the door, dropping the keys on the table and walking up into Clarisse's room. She didn't know why she was there. She didn't want to be there, but her body seemed to have just walked her into that room.

She looked around. It was as though Clarisse was still there, her pyjamas strewn across the bed where she'd left them after changing into her school uniform that morning, a book lying in the middle of the floor, her cuddly toys in disarray.

Angelique bent down and picked up the book. It was the one she'd bought for Clarisse for Christmas, the Famous Five. It fell open at a page marked with a pink bookmark. She had been just about halfway through. It made Angelique remember the times when she had sat on the bed beside her and read to her daughter before she went to sleep. It had often been the same couple of stories that had been Clarisse's favourites and had then ultimately become Angelique's favourites too.

She put the book down and went over to the bookcase, running her finger over all the titles. Eventually, she found what she was looking for. They were still there. Tucked away in the corner so her friends wouldn't see them; two picture books about unicorns and fairies. She pulled them out. The covers were faded and worn from the many times they had read them together.

Clutching them to her chest, Angelique left the room, shutting the door carefully behind her and heading to her own room. That evening, she was going to sit and read them again. She was going to relive the best moments they'd had together while she carried on searching for her. She _would_ find Clarisse, however long it took.

She left them on her bedside table, and went back downstairs feeling a lot more content and hopeful. She'd have dinner and sit and think about what she could do next before reading the books and going to bed. With a small smile to herself, she went to pick up the post by the door that she'd walked over earlier. However, that smile soon faded when she saw a note on top, with just 'Angelique' written on it.

Putting the other post on the table, she sat down and unfolded the paper.

_Angelique,_

_Yes, I know it's really you. I knew from the moment I stepped foot in this town two weeks ago. Your change of appearance and name doesn't fool me, even if it has fooled the rest of the town. Your scent is too distinctive. You should have known that sooner or later someone would have found out your little secret. _

_However, the main reason for this note, as you have probably guessed, is that I have your daughter. Quite a clever little thing really, she knew I was Elizabeth's daughter as soon as I mentioned my name. Anyway, I've watched you and your daughter these last couple of weeks and it seems that you actually love her. Of course, you can't have changed, you're still the same deceitful witch you were before you supposedly died. You ruined my family's lives with your revenge for Barnabas, so now I will ruin yours. If you want the chance to say goodbye to your daughter, then come to Widow's Hill tomorrow night at nine o'clock. I'm sure the poor, little thing would be devastated if you didn't turn up. She seems to think you're a perfect angel._

_Nevertheless, remember, tomorrow night at nine o'clock._

Angelique sat back in her chair, dropping the note and letting it fall onto the table. Widow's Hill? She wasn't going to… to do that, was she? If Clarisse was like her, she'd crack and die if she fell that far! The only way she could survive was if she was a vampire like her father, and so far, she had had no taste for blood, or grown fangs, or wanted to sleep in a coffin. She couldn't let this happen! Not to her Clarisse! She had to find some way of saving her. There had to be something she could do alone. However, one thing was for sure, she would be there, on Widow's Hill, the following night at nine o'clock no matter what.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Okay, so here is an extra long chapter! Thanks to Sayuri914, Wolf, AngeliqueBouchard1972 and lexette27 for reviewing/favouriting. Please let me know what you think of this chapter because I'm not to sure on it... :S**

Clarisse was huddled on the bed, dreading the return of her kidnapper. She watched out of the barred windows as the sky turned from bright blue to black. She knew it must be time for dinner soon, but she wasn't hungry. She had barely touched the tray Carolyn had brought up when she'd first arrived, even though she knew that she was likely to get told off for it. She didn't care. It seemed she only had one more day before she was going to be thrown from the top of Widow's Hill. One more dawn, one more day. That was it.

There was no way to escape this room. The barred windows, the locked door. She had tried to run out of the door when Carolyn had come in earlier, but it had only resulted in her getting dragged back by her hair, a harsh blow to the face and a warning that if she tried anything again then she would be tied to the bed.

Biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself from crying, she thought about her mother. Would she have notified the police by now? Would she be searching for her? Or would she just be sat at home not doing anything, not caring how frightened she was? Clarisse tried to dismiss that last thought. Her mother loved her, didn't she? She'd said she did.

Clarisse's doubts haunted her through the night. It didn't help that Carolyn made it worse by telling her that she had sent her mother a note telling her that she could watch her daughter die. It only made her have nightmares about her mother not turning up, about just letting her fall without even trying to save her, or say goodbye.

Carolyn didn't come up during the day, after seeing that she hadn't eaten any of the food she'd brought up the day before, it seemed that she just wasn't bothering. Clarisse tried to sleep, tried to think about happy thoughts, but she couldn't help but keep checking the clock every few minutes. The day seemed to be going awfully quick, much faster than usual and it was soon pitch black. For the several hundredth time that day, she glanced again at the clock. It was 8pm. One hour. That was all she had left.

However, before she had much time to think about it, the sound of a key turning in the lock jerked her back to reality. Nervously, she watched the door as it slowly creaked open. An eye looked out of the gap and, spotting Clarisse on the bed and not waiting to flee out the door, it opened fully.

Yet it was not Carolyn standing in the doorway, it was Vicky, her mousy hair swinging down to her shoulders as she gave Clarisse a glance so full of hatred that it was almost as though she was an entirely different person to the one Clarisse had known.

"Ah, so here you are, you little imp. When I left you last, you were still completely out of it."

"Please, leave me alone." She really didn't want someone else to start gloating and ranting at her, not now.

"I bet you're wondering how Carolyn and I know about your parents, aren't you?" she asked, completely ignoring Clarisse. The young girl said nothing. "You see, I knew there was something more than just kindness when Barnabas offered to look after you when you were a baby. Why would he, a man very much sticking to the shadows, offer to take care of a stranger's baby? Then, as you grew up and moved out, he kept disappearing off on 'trips to town'. At first, I thought he really was going to town, but after a while, it became clear that there was some other reason he was going out on a Saturday at the same time every week. I followed him. Of course, I found that he was going to visit you and your mother every week right under my nose.

'But, you see, up until recently, I just let it slide as the fact he had got attached to you when you used to spend the day together and then, when I confronted him, he always gave the excuse that it was to talk to your mother about business. But that all changed when Carolyn came. She told me about the fact your mother was not Naomi Babineaux, but Angelique Bouchard, the witch who tried to kill me and then she also told me something else. She told me that your scent was a mix between your mother's and one non-other than my Barnabas. It all became obvious then. You were his daughter. My Barnabas had his first child with that woman. It was supposed to have been me he had the child with. Not _her_!"

"It's not my fault, please!"

"No, but you're thing most dear to both your mother and father. I must admit, it does seem a little unfair that you're the one that gets hurt, yet you are the one who has caused all the trouble here, whether you meant to or not. Did he really think I would allow him to bring you into the house? To live with us?" She looked at Clarisse as though expecting her to come up with an answer.

"I don't know, please. I didn't want to. I promise you, I didn't!"

Vicky walked over to the bed, making Clarisse shrink back against the pillows when she sat down on the edge, perfectly poised.

"Promising me that you didn't want to isn't good enough though, is it?" she said calmly. "It wouldn't have stopped your father. He would still have taken you. You and your mother should have done more to stop him."

"You were the one planting doubts in his head in the first place!" Clarisse cried desperately. What did she want her to say? Every word that seemed to come out of her mouth was wrong somehow.

"I didn't expect him to react the way he did. I didn't think that he cared for you so much. If I had known then I wouldn't have said anything. I did it for Carolyn. She wanted revenge."

"Are we ready then?" came Carolyn's voice from where she was leaning against the doorframe, clearly not liking the direction the two's conversation was heading.

"Yes, we were just having a chat, weren't we, Clarisse? She understands everything now. She understands how it is all her fault."

"Good. Well, we'd better get going. We said we'd meet your mother at nine and it's already half eight now. We wouldn't want to be late, would we?"

Clarisse stared at her with wide, terrified eyes, so dark against the pale colour the fear had turned her skin. She could feel the tears building up in her eyes, but did nothing to stop them. They already knew she was frightened. It was Vicky who faltered slightly at the look in her eyes, but after Carolyn snapped at her to bring her to the car, she'd shaken it off and grabbed the young girl's arm, pulling her out of the room.

Clarisse tried with all her might to break free, pleading with her to let her go, but Vicky held onto her fast all the way down to the car and seemed to force her into the seat and fasten her seatbelt a lot easier than the previous day.

When the car started, Clarisse knew she had to find a way to get out. She reached out for the door handle but when she tried to open it, she found it locked. Not that she had expected any less. She knew her kidnapper's weren't stupid. However, not only was it a failed attempt, but it seemed Carolyn had had enough of her attempts to escape and before driving off, threw Vicky a piece of rope from the dashboard compartment to tie the young girl's hands behind her back.

"You're not going anywhere, so don't even think of trying anything else, do you understand?" she told the girl harshly before putting her foot down and speeding off down the road.

No one said a word as they raced through the town and up to the dark silhouette looming over the town. Clarisse gazed out of the window at the buildings they were speeding past, realising that this was going to be the last time she would ever see them. Tears began to stream down her face once more, dripping off the end of her jaw. However her two captors didn't seem to notice, both of them fixated on the road ahead.

"Doesn't look like Mummy's here yet, Clarisse," Carolyn taunted as they reached the car park near the edge of the cliff, but her voice was a little taut.

Clarisse refused to answer her or even look at her as she and Vicky got out of the car. Instead, she got herself ready to fight for her freedom as they walked round to her door, gearing herself up for the moment the door opened. Except they never gave her the chance. As soon as the door was unlocked, Carolyn swooped down and threw the girl over her shoulder, making Clarisse cry out in shock, a shrill scream against the deafening roar of the waves and the wailing of the wind.

"Now, we'll give your mother until five past, alright?" Carolyn told her. "If she really wants to say goodbye, she won't be late."

They reached the edge of the cliff and Carolyn put her down, making sure she got a good view over the edge to the sharp rocks and crashing waves far below. Clarisse whimpered, trying to back away, but Carolyn grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Long way down, isn't it?" she commented, smiling when the young girl shook. "That wailing isn't the wind, you know, it's the widows that jumped to their deaths from here after finding out their husbands were dead. Their ghosts still wander here, looking for their husbands. Who's to say you won't join them, hmm? The little girl looking for her mother. The one that never came to say goodbye." She paused a moment. "I used to come out here when something was troubling me, I've seen a few of those widows." Clarisse wasn't sure that she was telling the truth, but it scared her all the same.

"I've seen one, although she wasn't a widow. She was betrothed and was murdered. Betrothed to your father and murdered by your mother. The ghost of Josette DuPres," Vicky added in, absentmindedly. "I'm her reincarnation. That's why Barnabas fell for me, that's why he jumped off the cliff after me when Angelique sent me down."

So this is why they'd brought her here, Clarisse realised shakily. Her mother had sent several people to their deaths, or attempted deaths, here. Now they were sending her daughter to the same fate.

"It's rather fitting, isn't it?" Carolyn smirked, sensing the girl's thoughts. "A tragic accident. Young girl gets lost in the dark and falls off Widow's Hill." She looked at her watch. "It's three minutes past. Only two minutes left, sweetheart."

At these words, a hole ripped itself open in Clarisse's heart. She didn't realise it was so late already. Her worst fears had been ignited. It seemed her mother wasn't coming for her after all…

**A/N: Can anyone spot the small Les Misérables quote? (It's what comes from listening to the soundtrack when writing :P)**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: You're probably all going to kill me for this chapter, but please don't! :S Also, I'm sorry its taken so long, but thanks to LovingEden, Dark Magical Sorcres, Wolf and the guest for reviewing, favouriting, following. It means a lot and please don't forget to review this chapter :P**

"Let her go, Carolyn," Angelique demanded, stepping out from behind the trees a bit further away from the edge. She had been there a few minutes, waiting for them to turn up, hoping there was a moment where she could whisk Clarisse away from them, but there had been none and she had been forced to come out of her hiding spot when she had heard Carolyn's voice telling her daughter she had only two minutes left.

"Oh, so you did come, Angie. Seems your daughter here doubted you for a moment," Carolyn said snidely, pulling Clarisse's head back as she turned to look at the dark haired woman a few yards back.

Angelique wasn't discouraged. "I told you to let her go. She has nothing to do with this. She's only a child for goodness sake!"

"What, like I was when you sent a were-wolf to bite me in a crib, or when David was when you killed his mother?"

Angelique swallowed. She should have known this was going to come up. "You have no idea how sorry I am for that, Carolyn. If I could erase that part of my life, I would. I was completely blinded by revenge, revenge I shouldn't have taken out on you, or you family for that matter. I should have known that Barnabas couldn't marry a serving girl, but, please, just let Clarisse go."

Out the corner of her eye, she saw Vicky look a little nervous, as though she was starting to regret what she'd done, but it seemed she hadn't managed to convince Carolyn.

"Aw, how sweet; an apology. Well, you should know it's too late by now. I won't fall for your lies again," she said. "You have to know how much it hurts. You see, I never thought you would be able to know the pain David felt after Aunt Laura died, but now I find it seems you may be able to, I won't lose that chance. The lies that spew out of your mouth will not deter me from the revenge I have waited a decade for!"

"Carolyn, I am not the same person that I was. Doesn't the fact I truly love someone show that to you? I've changed, and changed for the better."

"You can't change! You're still the cruel, black-hearted witch you were. I know it!" Carolyn's grip must have tightened on Clarisse's hair as she shook her, for Angelique heard her cry of pain as it was carried by the wind.

"Clarisse!" She ran forward, but the sight of Carolyn pushing her daughter nearer to the edge made her stop short. A few rocks tumbled down the cliff face.

"If you don't want your daughter to go over, then don't even think about coming any closer," she warned.

Angelique changed tactics. "Vicky, Barnabas loves her, for goodness sake, don't you want him to be happy?" Angelique tried desperately, knowing that she was not getting through to Carolyn. "He will be distraught. He loves her Vicky, and when he finds out–"

"He won't find out though, will he?" Carolyn interrupted, seeing that her associate was about to give in. "If I remember correctly, he doesn't believe a word you say, not even that Clarisse had been kidnapped. He was going to send you away and take your daughter for himself, wasn't he? He believed his girlfriend over the mother of his child. Although, I think I would too, if that mother was a woman who had killed one of my fiancées, attempted to kill my other true love and taken revenge on my descendants for two hundred years!" Angelique tried to interrupt, but Carolyn didn't stop there. "I've been planning this for weeks, you know. Ever since I set foot in this town, I've watched you, looking for the right moment to cause the most damage. Of course, when I found out Clarisse walked to your office all alone after school every day, it didn't take long to forge a plan. All it took was a small blow to the head to knock her out before putting her in the car and driving away."

She was smirking now and Angelique could feel the anger rising inside her. They had dared to hurt her daughter? Her fists clenched by her side, she had hesitated to use her powers before due to the fact they could've hurt Clarisse, but now she didn't care. It seemed like it would be the only chance to save her for she knew Carolyn was not going to back down now and to see Clarisse go over the edge… she couldn't let that happen without knowing she'd tried.

She was about to put out a hand to throw Vicky backwards to get her out of the way, when a voice interrupted her, a voice of one of the two people she never thought would have come.

"Carolyn, how could you?" Elizabeth asked, sadly shaking her head as she walked out of the shadows. "What did I do wrong for you to turn out the way you have? How could you hurt Clarisse? She's only a child! It makes you as bad as she was." She pointed at Angelique, making her jump in horror at the thought of how long she'd known. "And, even I can tell she has changed since she had Clarisse. She is no longer the same Angelique Bouchard, Carolyn. You have made a big mistake." She smiled a little at Angelique, and the dark haired woman relaxed.

"Mother?" Carolyn was staring at Elizabeth as though she had gone mad. "How can you believe her twisted lies? Has she bewitched you, used some kind of spell? She must have done, you wouldn't have been so stupid to believe her otherwise!"

"No, Carolyn, she hasn't. I've known her for ten years without realising who she was, doesn't that tell you something? You're wrong, sweetheart. Please, just let Clarisse go and we can forget about all of this."

"I am not a child anymore, Mum, you can't make decisions for me. Even Barnabas knows her true nature, just ask him. He was going to send her away anyway!"

"And you should know that the real Angelique wouldn't have allowed that! She would have made a fuss, locked him in a box for another century or two!"

"I don't believe you, she's just been waiting, waiting for the right time to strike. That woman has to pay, here and now!"

On her last word, she pushed Clarisse forcefully towards the edge. Whether it was intentional or not, Angelique didn't know, for it all happened so fast. There was nothing she could do but watch as Clarisse let out a little scream and plunged out of sight…


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Okay, so I had a snow day today and managed to get this chapter written. It is also sad to tell you that there is only the epilogue left of this story after this chapter and then it is complete! I kind of don't want to leave the characters behind! :P Anyway, thanks to Marciella and Wolf for reviewing the last chapter!  
PLEASE REVIEW! I'd love to know what you thought of the whole story!**

"No!" Angelique cried desperately and tried to run forward. Her mind was a blur, all she could think was that she had to do something, anything to help her Clarisse. Arms held her back. She struggled against them frantically, but they were unyielding, refusing to let her go.

"No, it's too late," Elizabeth told her gently, her voice breaking slightly. "Angelique, there is nothing you can do."

"No, no it isn't!" she sobbed. She couldn't be gone, Clarisse couldn't be gone. There had to be some mistake.

Suddenly, a black blur sped past her and before anyone could react, launched itself of the edge of the cliff. Angelique knew immediately who it was. Barnabas. Nobody else could run so fast. But what was he doing here? Surely it wasn't a coincidence?

Elizabeth reeled back, shocked, giving Angelique the chance she was looking for. Sprinting forwards, she collapsed to her knees by the edge, completely forgetting Carolyn and Vicky.

Two bodies were falling, Barnabas hurtling head first towards Clarisse's limp form. Angelique watched helplessly, tears cascading down her cheeks as Barnabas caught up with their daughter and hugged her against his chest as they continued to fall backwards towards the sharp rocks below. The thud as they hit the rocks echoed in the air as Angelique watched, distraughtly searching for some indication that they had survived.

Barnabas was the first to stir, disentangling his hand from Clarisse's hair. Angelique's heart stammered a little. Then Clarisse pulled back, stirring feebly, and she was overcome with relief. Her heart lifted, soared at the fact they would be able to see each other again; that they weren't dead.

A snarl tore her from her happiness. Carolyn was fuming.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't push you off here to join your family." Her growling voice rose up and above the howling wind.

Angelique turned round slowly, fury overtaking her happiness, firing through her veins, balling her fists as she looked up at the woman who had tried to kill her daughter. "Don't think you can threaten me like that! I may have changed, but I still have the powers I used to have. I could toss you over the edge in a second if I wished to," she warned.

"Do it then! It'll make you feel better." Her eyes flashed angrily, taunting Angelique.

"Carolyn, enough!" shouted Elizabeth. "Don't you think you've caused enough damage? I never thought you would stoop so low!"

"She ruined our lives, or have you forgotten that? That witch deserves everything she's getting! Vicky agrees with me!"

Vicky, who had been standing silently watching the scene unfold, swallowed nervously. "Carolyn," she said tentatively, her voice thin and reedy beneath the screaming of the wind. "Carolyn, I think we were wrong. The Angelique we knew would have killed you on the spot, or at least injured you. I think you need to stop this now."

A tremor ran down Carolyn's spine, and Angelique realised she was shaking with anger. "How could you? You agreed that you would go through with this, Vicky! Of course she hasn't changed, she's putting on some kind of act!"

"That is the best you can do?" Angelique asked, eyebrows raised and shaking her head. "Surely the high and mighty Carolyn could come up with something more imaginative than that?"

"You are trying my patience, Angelique! I am not afraid to send you down, down to where you belong." She made a move to step forward again, but was stopped as a deep voice rose up.

"I am disappointed in you, Carolyn, I thought you could have done better for yourself than this." Barnabas. Angelique's head shot up. Sure enough, he was standing there, his hair plastered to his forehead, his clothes sopping wet. However, what worried her most was that Clarisse was in his arms, not stirring at all, and there was a small crack running down her cheek. It took all Angelique's determination not to let out a little sob of horror.

"And you, Victoria. I never thought you would do this to me, betray me in this way. I thought you were perfect for me, everything I wanted, but it seems you're not. You're not the person I thought you were. The Victoria I knew would never have harmed a fly, but this Victoria is different, so jealous that she devised a plan to make me doubt my child's mother. You knew it was her and it made you plant lies in my mind to make her life a misery. The Victoria I knew would never have done that, she would have given her a chance."

"Barnabas, I did it because I love you–"

"No." His voice was cold, flat, almost cruel. "If you knew me, you would have known I wouldn't want to lose my child, even if she was the daughter of the witch who had plagued my family with that curse. Clarisse is my flesh and blood, and yet you think I would have let you hurt her, kidnap her, watch as Carolyn went through with what you've planned and do nothing? Well, then you know nothing of me."

"Barnabas please, I'm so sorry!"

"She tried to stop Carolyn, Barnabas. She wasn't comfortable with it at all," Even Angelique was surprised at the words that tumbled from her mouth.

"She didn't realise."

Barnabas looked at her, eyes briefly questioning, and then back at Vicky, his expression hadn't changed. "That's no excuse. If Carolyn hadn't had Victoria's help then this wouldn't have happened. It takes two people to kidnap someone. One to drive, one to snatch."

"Barnabas, she tried to kill me, she tried to kill you. I know where you went every Saturday and the fact you had a child with her… I was supposed to have your first child. Not her. She ruined our lives, I thought she deserved it!"

"Don't Victoria. Just go. I don't want to see you again. I could never bring myself to love anyone who tried to kill my child. Just think yourself lucky I'm not handing you over to the appropriate authorities."

Vicky froze and stared at him, looking completely lost. Angelique saw a tear trickle down her cheek and her stomach contracted. It took her a moment to realise that she was pitying her. She knew how much it hurt to be rejected by the one you love, but Barnabas' eyes were hard, unforgiving, just like they had been with her the day before. He wouldn't listen to anyone now.

"I said go, Victoria!"

She jumped like a deer in headlights and took a deep, shuddering breath before suddenly darting away into the forest, only once stopping to look round at Barnabas one last time, her doe-like eyes looking at him pleadingly. He ignored her.

"You've bewitched him, you witch! I know you have. He loves Vicky!" Carolyn's voice was scarcely more than a howl as she stepped towards Angelique, trapping her by the cliff edge.

"She has placed no such enchantments on me, Carolyn. There once was a time when I loved Vicky, I loved her with all my soul, but she has changed. And while Angelique has changed for the better, she has changed for the worst," Barnabas told her solemnly.

"That's not true!" Desperation flooded Carolyn, and she began to advance on Angelique. "I know it's not true! I'll kill her, and then the enchantment will break. You'll see!"

Angelique knew she only had one option left. She'd rather not have done it, but it wasn't keen on being killed. Letting it build up inside her, she felt an electric rush of rage, a hot flurry of fury, and then the anger. Brilliant, white hot anger dancing across her fingertips. She let it fill her up until it was crackling through her like electricity. Throwing an arm forward, she felt a stream of energy flood out of her. Carolyn went hurling backwards, a look of utter surprise etched on her features before her collided with a tree trunk and slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Angelique looked away, only to find Barnabas and Elizabeth staring at her. She swallowed.

"I'm sorry, I–"

"No." Elizabeth recovered shakily. "You did it in your own defence. She's not dead, I think, only unconscious," She continued, trying to smile a little in spite of her shock. Angelique felt herself relax slightly.

"Clarisse?" she asked Barnabas, not daring to step any closer.

"She's alive and she'll mend. She's only asleep." Barnabas walked forward to show her. "I hope you don't mind, but I… thought she needed the rest and she was in shock and…"

He trailed off, but Angelique knew what he meant. He'd hypnotised her, but she found she didn't mind and was actually grateful to him She looked at him and shook her head, giving him a little smile as she felt the weight that had been hanging on her shoulders lift and she breathed a huge sigh of relief, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

"Barnabas, I… wanted to thank you. I –" The vampire cut her off.

"We'll speak when we get home. Let's just get off this hill." He walked away in the direction of the small car park where three cars were quietly sitting.

"I'll be off then," Angelique said quietly.

"No, you're in no fit state to drive. You are coming to ours, no ifs, no buts." Elizabeth told her firmly, going to pick up Carolyn's unconscious body. "We'll have to lock this one in her old room while we sort out what to do with her."

The drive was quiet. Elizabeth drove with Angelique in the front and Clarisse on her lap and Barnabas in the back with Carolyn. The silence was awkward, lengthy, and Angelique was glad when they pulled up in front of the huge mansion and all clambered out.

Elizabeth went upstairs immediately with Carolyn, calling for David to help her, whilst Angelique stood awkwardly as Barnabas took their daughter from her, his face impassive. Starting up the stairs, he turned and indicated for her to follow.

He took her into his quarters and into a room that still held the smell of fresh paint. It seemed it had recently been decorated red and cream with several pieces of wood furniture relocated from other parts of the mansion, and the windows were swathed in cherry coloured curtains. It only took Angelique a moment to realise that it was supposed to be for Clarisse when she moved in with him. Immediately something tore inside her. She'd completely forgotten that she was supposed to be moving away in four days.

"Barnabas, I really ought to go. I have to go to work tomorrow and…" She trailed off as Barnabas turned to look at her.

"Angelique, wait." He lay Clarisse down on the bed carefully, pulling a wool blanket over her, before walking back over to Angelique. "I wanted to talk to you, to apologise… apologise for not believing you."

"Barnabas–"

"No, just listen. I believed I could entrust my life to Victoria, and when she told me she thought you were up to something, and then you mentioned the car that same weekend… well, it was such a big coincidence, but I know I shouldn't have gone against you so quickly. I should have known you'd changed, I think somewhere, I knew you'd changed, but all I could see was the fact you seemed to be taking my child away from me. And then I put Clarisse in danger."

Angelique went to interrupt, but Barnabas put a hand up to stop her.

"No. It wasn't your fault. If I had believed you about the car, then we could have found Carolyn sooner and Clarisse wouldn't have been harmed. She would have been safe. I'm just so lucky that Elizabeth has such a good heart. That she persuaded me _and _guessed what was going to happen."

Angelique didn't know what to say as she felt a lump form in her throat. She turned away, intending to walk out before the beating of her heart grew too much for her to bear, but Barnabas refused to let her, grabbing hold of her wrist

"Please don't walk away. There's something else I have the need to tell you. It's just, Clarisse loves you, Angelique. I know I told you that I wanted you to leave town, but it seems it will only make our daughter miserable and, well I, before all this came about, I never realised. I never thought it was possible… possible to be in love with two people at once and I was confused, so confused. That's why it only took a moment for me to not to believe you. I didn't understand. I thought if I distanced myself from you… Well, at least now I know. . I know that it isn't possible to be in love with more than one person, it's just that I spent all my love on the wrong person. You see, Angelique… I think… I think I love you." And with that, he smiled and leant forward to place his lips on hers, closing his eyes as her familiar scent washed over him.

Angelique felt herself drawn in, and yet, she pulled back slightly, her breathing uneven, her mind a blur. "Barnabas. I imprisoned you in a box for 200..."

"Quiet Angelique." He cut her off mid flow, before leaning forward and kissing her. "And that was worth every year."


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: So, this is the last chapter of Falling into Shadows and I hope everyone liked it! I would love it if you left me a review or PM to tell me what you thought of the whole thing! I will also be going through and doing a complete edit. For those that are also reading The Housekeeper's Daughter, I will now hopefully be updating that more regularly.**

**Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, favourited and followed my story throughout, I really appreciate it! And thanks to SouthKentishTown for helping me when I've been stuck and to Maricella, Wolf and AngeliqueBouchard1972 for reviewing the last chapter ;)**

The next morning, the Collins' received a visit from the Sherriff, informing them that an anonymous source had phoned in and told them all Carolyn's plan and what she had done the night before on Widow's Hill and leaving them no choice but to let the Sheriff arrest Carolyn and take her away. Angelique was the only one to realise who the 'anonymous source' had been, for she caught a glimpse of her the very next day and very purposely gave Barnabas a kiss on the lips. She knew Vicky had done it to impress the vampire and get him back, but Angelique wasn't letting him go that easily.

Elizabeth was quiet after Carolyn had been arrested and Angelique did her best to comfort her. However, the woman blamed herself for what her daughter had done, she blamed herself for refusing to understand Carolyn, for refusing to come to terms with her werewolf side, for not keeping in touch after she ran away. And no one could persuade her otherwise, even when Angelique told her that if she hadn't sent a werewolf to bite Carolyn or tried to kill their family, then none of this would have happened.

A few months later, Carolyn was found guilty of kidnapping and attempted murder and was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. The last time Angelique ever saw her, she was kicking and screaming bloody murder as they forcefully dragged her from the stand in court. Elizabeth never got over it after seeing that, however hard her family tried, and eventually she wasted away, an empty shell of her former self.

However, it still came as a shock a few months later when she jumped from Widow's Hill, leaving Collinsport to be plunged into grieving. Elizabeth had been a well-loved woman and nearly the whole town turned up at her funeral, relieving her memory together.

Clarisse, on the other hand, healed quickly, and was soon back to school, with no visual wounds of what had happened. However, that was until it got to night-time. It seemed that, emotionally, her experience had scarred her and it was no wonder with what she'd been through. Although that didn't make Angelique not hate hearing her daughter's screams in the night from the nightmares; it ripped her heart every time. She never cared what time it was when she and Barnabas ran to her room to wake her, she didn't mind how long it took for Clarisse to cry it all out on her shoulder, she was there for her, both of them were. Eventually, they brought in a physiatrist to help her, and even though the dreams did not disappear entirely, they definitely became fewer.

One thing they made sure of though, was to commission a portrait of the small family all together to hang in Collinswood Mansion, which was now home to all three of them. Clarisse wasn't very pleased at the prospect of having to stand still for hours on end while some random stranger painted them, but her parents were insistent. They never told Clarisse, but part of the reason was to ensure her safety, so that if she were ever killed, she could come back to that time, as they all could.

It was a couple of years later when Clarisse started to show her powers. First, it was the smashing of the antique vase when she was angry, next, the candles lighting themselves when she was excited. Angelique didn't know whether to be happy or concerned until her daughter set fire to her curtains when in a tantrum. She realised she was going to have to teach her to control her powers before something really dangerous happened, or something occurred in public. So, once a week, she taught Clarisse how to use her newly found powers carefully, something Clarisse wasn't too happy about as she found her mother was a strict teacher and set her homework too, just when she was starting to get a lot from school. However, when she complained, her parents only told her that it was for her own good and refused to listen to any protests she made. In the end, Clarisse just got on with it.

Aside from everything else, Angelique and Barnabas were happy. They had no more threats, no more trouble, and they could both have their daughter, for Vicky never reappeared after Angelique's little show. Soon after the incident, the two united their fishing companies to form 'Collineaux Cannery' and became very successful, for as Angelique had once said, 'We are two big fish in an itty-bitty pond', meaning that now they had double the customers and fishing boats and there was no need for hypnotising the fishermen.

So, all was well in Collinswood Manor and soon they were celebrating once more. A wedding, but not Angelique and Barnabas', for Barnabas had had enough of his girlfriends dying or betraying him, Angelique was just grateful to have him and they came to the decision that they had a very long time to make their vows. No, this was the wedding of David and his girlfriend, Tess, Angelique's secretary. Angelique had made up for snapping at her that day by paying for her wedding dress as an apology and her and Barnabas' wedding gift. It was a beautiful, a snowy white with big, puffed up sleeves and a large, satin skirt that pooled around her feet. She looked beautiful in it as she walked up the aisle on her father's arm, smiling brightly at David as she reached him.

And so that's where we leave them, David and Tess at the altar, gazing lovingly at one another, Clarisse, Angelique and Barnabas in the front row with their arms around each other, and Willy sitting to their side, dressed in a very smart suit (for Willy) with his hair greased back and looking very smug with himself.


End file.
